Bill Text: NJ S2638 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires AG to collect, record, analyze, and report certain prosecutorial and criminal justice data.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-30 - Substituted by A1076 (1R) [S2638 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2638-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator THOMAS H. KEAN, JR.
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires AG to collect, record, analyze, and report certain prosecutorial and criminal justice data.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the collection and reporting of certain prosecutorial and criminal justice data and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Attorney General, in consultation with the Division of State Police, county prosecutors offices, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Department of Corrections, shall establish a program to collect, record, and analyze data regarding defendants in this State who are age 18 or older at the time of the commission of an alleged offense. In furtherance of this program, the Attorney General shall collect data from the time a defendant enters the State's criminal justice system, by arrest, charge, or other action, through the final disposition of the defendant's case. The data shall include information concerning the race, ethnicity, gender, and age of the defendant and shall include, but not be limited to, data concerning:
(1) warrants, arrests, charges, filing of criminal complaints, and indictments;
(2) dismissed or downgraded charges;
(3) cases which proceed to trial, and the disposition of cases, including convictions and guilty pleas;
(4) admission to diversionary programs, including data on program applications, and any prosecutorial consent or denial for a defendant's entry into diversionary programs;
(5) contact between a prosecutorial authority and a victim, including data concerning cases involving victims;
(6) plea agreement negotiations, including data concerning plea offers extended and accepted or rejected by the defendant, plea agreements entered or rejected by the court, and whether the plea agreements involved probation or incarceration;
(7) court fees and fines; and
(8) restitution amounts ordered, including any amount collected by the court and paid to a victim.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the disclosure of any confidential or personal identifying information. For the purposes of this section, "personal identifying information" shall include, but not be limited to, name and any aliases, address, social security number, telephone number, fax number, driver's license number, email address, or social media address of any defendant or victim.
b. The Attorney General shall prepare and publish on its Internet website annual reports summarizing the data collected, recorded, and analyzed pursuant to this section.
c. The Attorney General shall, pursuant to section 2 of P.L. 1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), annually prepare and transmit to the Governor and the Legislature the reports required in this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General to establish a program to collect, record, and analyze prosecutorial and criminal justice data, which includes race, ethnicity, gender, and age-related information, and issue annual reports.
Under the bill, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Division of State Police, county prosecutors offices, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Department of Corrections, is required to establish a program to collect, record, and analyze data regarding defendants in this State who are age 18 or older at the time of the commission of an alleged offense. The data is to be collected from the time a defendant enters the State's criminal justice system, by arrest, charge, or other action, through the final disposition of the defendant's case. The data required includes race, ethnicity, gender, and age of the defendant. Specifically, the data is to include, but not be limited to: (1) warrants, arrests, charges, filing of criminal complaints, and indictments; (2) dismissed or downgraded charges; (3) cases which proceed to trial, and the disposition of cases, including convictions and guilty pleas; (4) admission to diversionary programs, including data on program applications, and any prosecutorial consent or denial for a defendant's entry into diversionary programs; (5) contact between a prosecutorial authority and a victim, including data concerning cases involving victims; (6) plea agreement negotiations including data concerning plea offers extended and accepted or rejected by the defendant, plea agreements entered or rejected by the court, and whether the plea agreements involved probation or incarceration; (7) court fees and fines, and (8) restitution amounts ordered, including any amount collected by the court and paid to a victim.
The Attorney General is required to prepare and publish on its Internet website annual reports summarizing the data collected, recorded, and analyzed under the bill, and is to issue annual reports to the Governor and the Legislature. The reports published under the bill are not to disclose any confidential or personal identifying information related to a defendant or victim.
