Bill Text: NJ A3731 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires county and municipal welfare agencies to determine if person is sex offender within certain time after initial placement in emergency shelter and to provide notification of placement to law enforcement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A3731 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A3731-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires county and municipal welfare agencies to determine if person is sex offender within certain time after initial placement in emergency shelter and to provide notification of placement to law enforcement.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning sex offenders and supplementing Title 55 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Within three business days after the initial placement, every county and municipal welfare agency shall determine whether the person's sex offender registration information is published on the New Jersey State Police sex offender Internet registry pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2001, c.167 (C.2C:7-12 et seq.), for the exclusive purpose of the initial placement of persons in emergency shelters, which include but are not limited to hotels and motels.
b. If a county or municipal welfare agency determines that a person being initially placed in an emergency shelter is a sex offender, that agency shall provide written notification of the placement to the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality where the shelter is located, or if the municipality does not have a local police force, the Superintendent of State Police. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, a sex offender shall have the primary responsibility to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency upon a change of address pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of P.L.1994, c.133 (C.2C:7-2).
c. Upon request by any law enforcement agency, the address of a sex offender who is placed in an emergency shelter shall be provided to State and local law enforcement agencies who are attempting to locate a registered sex offender who no longer resides at the last known address provided to law enforcement officials.
2. The Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs in conjunction with the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to implement this act.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires county and municipal welfare agencies to determine whether a person's sex offender registration information is published on the New Jersey State Police sex offender Internet registry within three business days of the person's initial placement in an emergency shelter. This information is to be used for the exclusive purpose of the initial placement of persons in emergency shelters.
If an agency determines that a person who has been placed in an emergency shelter is a sex offender, that agency is required to provide written notification of the placement of the sex offender to the chief law enforcement officer in the municipality where the shelter is located, or if the municipality does not have a local police force, the Superintendent of State Police. Notwithstanding this requirement, a sex offender still has the primary responsibility to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency upon a change of address, as required by current law.
Finally, the bill requires that, upon the request of any law enforcement agency, the address of a sex offender who is placed in an emergency shelter be provided to State and local law enforcement officials who are attempting to locate a registered sex offender who no longer resides at the last known address provided to law enforcement officials.
It is the sponsor's intent to ensure that emergency shelters are safe for families by minimizing the risk of a sex offender being placed in an emergency shelter that also houses families with children.
