Bill Text: NJ A391 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits counties to provide videoconferencing in involuntary commitment hearings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A391 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A391-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2018 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Permits counties to provide videoconferencing in involuntary commitment hearings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act permitting videoconferencing in certain proceedings and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Involuntary Commitments Videoconferencing Act."
2. a. The Legislature finds and declares that videoconferencing, an interactive technology which sends video and voice signals over telephone lines permitting two or more persons in different places to communicate with each other using video monitors and cameras, is technology which can be used to provide live two-way audio and video transmission between a court and a person located at a remote site.
b. The technology offers witnesses, litigants, attorneys and courts in other jurisdictions as well as other involved parties a means of participating in court proceedings or pre-trial conferences without physically being in the courtroom or judges' chambers.
c. The Legislature further declares that with this new hardware and improved data transmission lines, courts across the country, both federal and state, including New Jersey, now use videoconferencing in criminal matters.
d. The Legislature further declares that videoconferencing has even greater potential for use in the involuntary commitment hearings. In involuntary commitment hearings, judges, court clerks, and armed sheriff's officers must travel to the psychiatric hospitals where the hearings are held. Through utilizing videoconferencing, hearings could be held with saving time and expenses while ensuring that the patient's rights are fully protected.
3. Counties shall be permitted to provide videoconferencing in involuntary commitment hearings for the use and the operation of the courts in their county courthouses and municipal courts.
4. In counties that elect to maintain and operate videoconferencing for involuntary commitment hearings, the county government shall bear the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining the videoconferencing units.
5. The Supreme Court of New Jersey may adopt court rules appropriate or necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
6. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill permits counties to provide videoconferencing in involuntary commitment hearings for the use and the operation of the courts in their county courthouses and municipal courts. In the counties that elect to maintain and operate videoconferencing for involuntary commitment hearings, the county government will be responsible for the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining the videoconferencing units.
The Supreme Court of New Jersey may adopt court rules appropriate or necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act. This act shall take effect immediately.
