Bill Text: NJ A1274 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that cabinet-level public officials, Attorney General, and county prosecutors may serve in acting capacity for no longer than six months without nomination.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A1274 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A1274-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Provides that cabinet-level public officials, Attorney General, and county prosecutors may serve in acting capacity for no longer than six months without nomination.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act providing time limitations for certain public officials serving in an acting capacity without nomination and supplementing chapter 14 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No person shall serve in an acting capacity as the head of a principal department or in a cabinet-level position in the Executive Branch of State Government, or as Attorney General, or as a county prosecutor for a period of more than six full consecutive or intermittent months, when that position is required to be filled by a person nominated and appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate pursuant to any statute or provision of the New Jersey Constitution, if the Governor has not submitted that person's name in nomination to the Senate to serve in that position. When the name of a person serving in an acting capacity is not submitted in nomination to the Senate prior to the end of that six-month consecutive or intermittent period, the person serving in an acting capacity shall vacate that position at the end of the six months of service in that position.
b. When any person is serving in an acting capacity on the effective date of this section, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and the Governor has not submitted that person's name in nomination to the Senate, the Governor shall nominate that person within 30 days of that effective date, or at the next Senate session, whichever is sooner, or the person shall vacate that position.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
Under the New Jersey Constitution and statutory law, certain public offices must be filled by nomination and appointment of the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. These positions include but are not limited to the heads of each principal department; various officers of the militia; members of boards and commissions; and county prosecutors.
This bill provides that a person shall not serve in an acting capacity as the head of a principal department or in a cabinet-level position in the Executive Branch of State Government, or as Attorney General, or as a county prosecutor for a period of more than six months, when that position is required to be filled by the Governor's nomination with the advice and consent of the Senate, if the Governor has not submitted that person's name in nomination to the Senate to fill that position on a permanent basis. When the name of a person serving in an acting capacity is not submitted in nomination to the Senate prior to the end of that six- month period, the person serving in an acting capacity would terminate that service at the end of the six months. The bill applies only to the heads of principal departments and cabinet-level positions in the Executive Branch, the Attorney General, and county prosecutors.
The bill further provides that, when any person is serving in an acting capacity on the effective date of the bill, and the Governor has not submitted that person's name in nomination to the Senate to serve on a permanent basis, the Governor shall nominate that person within 30 days of that effective date, or at the next Senate session, whichever is sooner, or the person shall vacate that position.
