Bill Text: NJ A5107 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies certain Superior Court review and arbitration proceedings are available to all non-civil service law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-12-10 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A5107 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A5107-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies certain Superior Court review and arbitration proceedings are available to all non-civil service law enforcement officers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning law enforcement officers and amending N.J.S.40A:14-150.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.40A:14-150 is amended to read as follows:
40A:14-150. Any member or officer of a police department or force [in] , except for those members or officers employed by a [municipality wherein] jurisdiction that operates under Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes [is not in operation], who has been tried and convicted upon any charge or charges, may obtain a review thereof by the Superior Court; provided, however, that in the case of an officer who is appealing removal from [his] the office, employment or position held by the officer for a complaint or charges, other than a complaint or charges relating to a criminal offense, the officer may, in lieu of serving a written notice seeking a review of that removal by the court, submit [his] an appeal to arbitration pursuant to section 10 of P.L.2009, c.16 (C.40A:14-209). Such review shall be obtained by serving a written notice of an application therefor upon the officer or board whose action is to be reviewed within 10 days after written notice to the member or officer of the conviction. The officer or board shall transmit to the court a copy of the record of such conviction, and of the charge or charges for which the applicant was tried. The court shall hear the cause de novo on the record below and may either affirm, reverse or modify such conviction. If the applicant shall have been removed from [his] the office, employment or position the court may direct that [he] the officer be restored to such office, employment or position and to all [his] the officer's rights pertaining thereto, and may make such other order or judgment as [said] the court shall deem proper.
Either party may supplement the record with additional testimony subject to the rules of evidence.
(cf: P.L.2009, c.16, s.14)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that every member of a non-civil service police department in the State may: (1) obtain a review by the Superior Court if the officer has been convicted upon any charge or charges; or (2) request arbitration to appeal removal from office for certain complaints or charges.
Current law already provides for Superior Court review and special disciplinary arbitration in these circumstances, but the wording of the relevant section of law has been found by the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division, In re DiGuglielmo, 2020 N.J. Super. LEXIS 219, to apply only to law enforcement officers employed by non-civil service municipalities, which excludes officers working for other types of entities, such as universities. This bill amends the language of the existing law to clarify that its provisions apply to all law enforcement officers employed by entities other than civil service jurisdictions.
