Bill Text: NJ A3734 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates grant program for municipalities to establish Light of the Missing; appropriates $100,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A3734 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A3734-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Creates grant program for municipalities to establish Light of the Missing; appropriates $100,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning missing persons, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds that the enactment of Amber's Plan was an acknowledgment that public alerts are an effective tool in combating child abductions, and that the first few hours after the abduction are the most critical. The Legislature also finds that a new missing person alert system known as the "Light of the Missing" has been unveiled in the municipality of Westville to augment Amber's Plan. The Light of the Missing may be instantaneously activated by first responders to notify citizens in the immediate area of a disappearance, and other municipalities may wish to establish their own Light of the Missing.
The Legislature declares that it is therefore altogether fitting and proper, and within the public interest, to establish a grant program funded by a State appropriation and private donations to encourage municipalities to establish a Light of the Missing, which would further enhance and expand the resources available to local law enforcement during the search for a missing person.
2. a. There shall be established in the Department of the Treasury a special fund to be known as the "Light of the Missing Fund." The fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated by the Legislature for inclusion in the fund, investment earnings of the fund, and private donations. Moneys in the fund are to be used exclusively for the purposes of this act. The moneys in the fund shall be invested and reinvested by the Director of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury
b. The Legislature shall annually appropriate all funds deposited in the "Light of the Missing Fund " to the Department of Law and Public Safety for the purpose of providing grants to municipalities to purchase signage and any other necessary equipment to establish a Light of the Missing in that municipality.
3. The Attorney General shall:
a. Adopt criteria for the administration of the grants and establish any administrative processes for the disbursement of the monies authorized pursuant to this section; and
b. Publicize, on its Internet website and in newspapers of general circulation the availability of grants and the application requirements and documentation necessary.
4. Within 18 months after the date of enactment of this act, the Attorney General shall submit a written report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), detailing the disbursement of monies pursuant to this act. This report shall identify each municipality that has received a grant and the amount of the grant.
5. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the "Light of the Missing Fund" established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) the sum of $100,000 for the purpose of providing grants to municipalities to establish Light of the Missing alert systems.
6. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month after enactment, but the Attorney General may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "Light of the Missing," a new missing person alert system, as a Statewide program to augment Amber Alerts, which are issued by the broadcast media when a child is missing.
The bill appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the Light of the Missing fund, which is established in the Department of Law and Public Safety. The fund, which also may accept private donations, is to provide grants to municipalities that wish to establish their own Light of the Missing. The grants may be used only to purchase signage and any other equipment necessary to construct a Light of the Missing alert system.
The Attorney General is required to adopt criteria for the administration of the grants and to publicize on its website and in newspapers the availability of these grants.
The bill also requires the Attorney General to submit a written report regarding the program to the Governor and the Legislature, within 18 months after the bill's enactment. The report is to identify each municipality that has received a grant and the amount of the grant.
Westville was the first municipality to unveil a Light of the Missing, a sign with blue and white strobe lights and the silhouette of an angel. Donations were used to fund the project. The sign, which may be activated by first responders at a moment's notice, is intended to augment Amber Alerts, functioning as the municipality's own system to alert residents in the immediate area of a disappearance. Other municipalities have expressed a desire to establish a Light of the Missing.
