Bill Text: NJ A4462 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies law concerning conduct of certain legislative investigations.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-06-01 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4462 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A4462-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies law concerning conduct of certain legislative investigations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act clarifying law concerning certain legislative investigations and amending R.S.52:13-1 and R.S.52:13-3.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.52:13-1 is amended to read as follows:
52:13-1. a. Any joint committee of the legislature, any standing committee of either house, or any special committee directed by resolution to enter upon any investigation or inquiry, the pursuit of which shall necessitate the attendance of persons or the production of any evidence, including, but not limited to, documents, books [or] , records, papers, or objects, shall have power to compel, by subpoena, the attendance before it of such persons as witnesses and the production before it of such [books and papers] evidence as it may deem necessary, proper and relevant to the matter under investigation. Any such committee shall also have the power to employ such legal and clerical assistance as it may deem necessary to the proper conduct of the investigation.
b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, a standing reference committee of either house, upon a majority vote of the committee's membership, shall have the authority to exercise the powers conferred by R.S.52:13-1 et seq.
(cf. R.S.52:13-1)
2. R.S.52:13-3 is amended to read as follows:
52:13-3. [Witnesses] Persons summoned to appear before any committee authorized by this article or any other law to conduct an investigation or inquiry shall be entitled to receive the same fees and mileage as persons summoned to testify in the courts of the state.
All such [witnesses] persons may be sworn as witnesses by any member of the committee conducting the investigation or inquiry; and all witnesses sworn before any such committee shall answer truly all questions put to them which the committee shall [decide] determine to be necessary, proper and [pertinent] relevant to the investigation or inquiry [; and any witness so sworn who shall swear falsely shall be guilty of perjury. No such witness shall be excused from answering any such questions on the ground that to answer the same might or would incriminate him; but no answers made by any witness to any such questions shall be used or admitted in evidence in any proceeding against such witness, except in a criminal prosecution against the witness for perjury in respect to his answers to such questions].
A committee may compel, by subpoena, any person to produce at a specific time and place any evidence, including, but not limited to, documents, books, records, papers, or objects that the committee determines to be necessary, proper and relevant to the matter under investigation.
If any person to whom a subpoena has been issued fails to appear or, having appeared, refuses to answer any question, or refuses to produce evidence of any kind, on the ground that the person will be exposed to criminal prosecution or penalty, the committee may order that person to appear or to answer the question or produce the requested evidence and confer immunity on that person. No order to appear or to answer or produce evidence with immunity shall be made except by a vote of a majority of the total membership of the committee. If, upon issuance of such an order, the person complies therewith, he shall be immune from having a responsive answer given by him or responsive evidence produced by him, or any information directly or indirectly derived from such answer or evidence, used to expose him to criminal prosecution, except that that person may, nevertheless, be prosecuted for any perjury committed in such answer or in producing such evidence.
If any person refuses to obey a subpoena to appear or refuses to answer questions or produce requested evidence, the committee shall, by a vote of a majority of the total membership of the committee, find the person in contempt of the committee and may apply ex parte to the Superior Court to compel compliance therewith. The court shall have jurisdiction to hear the matter and may order the person to appear and give testimony or produce evidence. Any person failing to obey the court's order may be punishable by the court as for contempt. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to impair or abridge other remedies available to the committee, including but not limited to, the other remedies set forth in this title and the remedies available under the New Jersey Constitution respecting the inherent powers of the Legislature.
Any witness who refuses to answer any questions [decided] or produce evidence, determined by the committee to be necessary, proper and [pertinent shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and any witness] relevant, or who, having been summoned to appear before any such committee, fails to appear in obedience to the summons or, appearing, refuses to be sworn shall be guilty of a [misdemeanor] crime of the fourth degree. Upon the finding that a witness is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree by a vote of a majority of the total membership of the committee, the committee shall forward to the Senate President or Speaker of the General Assembly, as the case may be, or in the case of a joint committee to both presiding officers, a certified statement setting forth the underlying facts in support of the committee's decision to find a witness guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. The committee chair shall submit to the Mercer County prosecutor or the prosecutor of the county in which the witness resides, a certified copy of the committee's decision and a warrant for the witness' arrest, instructing the prosecutor to arrest the witness and bring the person before an appropriate judge of the Superior Court for sentencing.
(cf: R.S.52:13-3)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends existing law concerning investigations by legislative committees to clarify the evidence that may be required to be produced, as well as the circumstances under which a committee may require a person to testify or produce evidence, grant immunity, and seek a court order compelling testimony or the production of evidence. The bill authorizes a committee, by a vote of a majority of its total membership, to find a person in contempt of the committee. It also provides that a committee, by a vote of a majority of its total membership, may find a witness who refuses to answer questions or produce evidence, fails to appear, or refuses to be sworn, guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. In such a case, the appropriate county prosecutor will arrest the witness and bring the person before a judge of the Superior Court for sentencing.
In addition, the bill provides that any standing reference committee of either house, upon a majority vote of the committee's membership, may exercise the powers conferred by R.S.52:13-1 et seq.
The bill also changes the word "misdemeanor" in the statute to "crime of the fourth degree" in order to be consistent with the terminology used in the current criminal code.
