New Jersey-2012-A805-Introduced

An Act concerning drug testing in certain cases and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

"Employee representative" means a representative as defined in the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.)

"State law enforcement officer" means any law enforcement officer in the employ of the State of New Jersey holding a civil service title of any rank in the classified career service, including all State correction officers.

2. a. Whenever a State law enforcement officer is subject to a urine analysis to test for the presence of a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance, the subject officer shall be entitled to divide the sample taken into two and have one delivered to a private State certified toxicology laboratory for testing. For the purposes of this section, "State certified" shall mean a toxicology laboratory approved to test and verify the results of a urine analysis for the presence of a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance.

b. The urine specimen selected for delivery to the private State certified toxicology laboratory and the State Toxicology Laboratory for testing shall be secured and sealed in the officer's presence in an approved container. The container shall be sealed with tamperproof evidence tape on which the subject officer shall sign his name.

Each container and specimen shall be collected, handled, transported, and stored in accordance with prevailing industry standards and in accordance with those practices utilized to ensure the continuity of evidence.

c. Whenever the results of a urine test conducted by the State Toxicology Laboratory differ from those of a private State certified toxicology laboratory, no charges shall be filed against the subject officer and any pending charges shall be dismissed. The officer shall be reinstated immediately, and all rights and benefits restored. No record of any charges or any allegation of charges relating to the urine analysis, other than a statement that the results were negative, shall be placed in the officer's personnel file, official work history or any other compilation of employment or personnel information without the written approval of the officer.

d. The officer shall be notified of the results of a urine test conducted by the State Toxicology Laboratory, whether those results are positive or negative. If the State Toxicology Laboratory reports that an officer has tested positive for a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance, and there is a second sample, the officer may ask that the second sample not be tested by a private State certified toxicology laboratory. In such cases, the second sample shall be destroyed within five working days in the presence of an employee representative of the officer.

e. Until they are destroyed in the presence of an employee representative of the affected officers, all urine samples held by the State Toxicology Laboratory shall be handled and stored in accordance with prevailing industry standards and in accordance with those practices utilized to ensure the continuity of evidence.

3. a. Whenever a State law enforcement officer is subject to a random urine analysis to test for the presence of a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance, the selection process shall be witnessed by an employee representative of the subject officer. A randomly selected officer or his employee representative may request verification that the selection was from a complete list of eligible State law enforcement officers.

b. No State law enforcement officer shall be subject to a random urine analysis to test for the presence of a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance, when the officer is on an approved leave of absence.

c. A random urine analysis to test for the presence of a chemical, drug or controlled dangerous substance, or a metabolite of a drug or controlled dangerous substance shall not be conducted more than once in a 30-day period in any State law enforcement facility or station.

4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill outlines the procedures for conducting urine analyses to test State law enforcement officers for the presence of chemicals, drugs or controlled dangerous substances, or metabolites of drugs or controlled dangerous substances.

The bill affords law enforcement officers the right to have their urine samples split in two so that the sample can be tested not only by the State, but also by a private, but State certified, laboratory. To ensure the integrity of the tests, the bill calls for the securing and sealing of the samples in the officer's presence, and directs that all specimens be collected, handled, transported and stored in accordance with prevailing industry standards and in accordance with those practices utilized to insure the continuity of evidence.

Finally, the bill provides that random urine analyses may not be conducted more than once in a 30-day period in any State law enforcement facility or station.

The procedures outlined in this bill do not apply to State Police officers and troopers.