Bill Text: NJ A5088 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mandates wage garnishment and community service for defendants in default of court orders to compensate crime victims.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A5088 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5088-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman DIANNE C. GOVE
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Mandates wage garnishment and community service for defendants in default of court orders to compensate crime victims.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning restitution for crime victims and supplementing Title 2B of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of the "Comprehensive Enforcement Program Fund Act," P.L.1995, c.9 (C.2B:19-1 et seq.), N.J.S.2C:46-2, or any other law, when a defendant sentenced to make restitution as part of a sentence of probation defaults in the payment of such restitution or of any installment without good cause, the court shall proceed as set forth in this section.
a. (1) The court shall order the Probation Division to verify the accuracy of any information provided by the defendant concerning his income, assets, and employment. Verification shall include, among other provisions, confirming any such information with the defendant's employer.
(2) The court shall order the garnishment of the defendant's wages or other earnings. Payment of wages by an employer in the form of cash shall not preclude garnishment pursuant to this section.
b. If the defendant is unemployed, the court shall order that the defendant participate in an appropriate job placement program.
c. If a defendant subject to wage garnishment defaults in the payment of any single installment without good cause, the court shall impose a term of participation in a labor assistance program or enforced community service. Such participation shall not reduce the amount owed by the defendant in default.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would mandate wage garnishment and participation in enforced community service for certain criminal defendants who fail to make restitution to their victims. Currently, a defendant who is convicted of a crime may be sentenced to probation, with one of the conditions of probation being that the defendant must make restitution to the victim of his crime. If the defendant fails to make such restitution, the court has the option to order such sanctions as wage garnishment, participation in enforced community service, participation in a labor assistance program, and revocation of probation with the imposition of the original sentence.
This bill would require the court, in every case where the defendant defaults in the payment of restitution or of any installment without good cause, to:
(1) order the Probation Division to verify the accuracy of any information provided by the defendant concerning his income, assets, and employment. Verification would include, among other provisions, confirming any such information with the defendant's employer;
(2) order the garnishment of the defendant's wages or other earnings. The bill specifies that payment of wages by an employer in the form of cash would not preclude garnishment; and
(3) in a case where the defendant is unemployed, order that the defendant participate in an appropriate job placement program.
The bill provides that if a defendant subject to wage garnishment defaults in the payment of any single installment without good cause, the court must impose a term of participation in a labor assistance program or enforced community service. Such participation would not reduce the amount owed by the defendant in default.
