Bill Text: NJ S65 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires ten years of legal experience to be eligible to be appointed county prosecutor.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee [S65 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S65-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator RICHARD J. CODEY
District 27 (Essex and Morris)
Senator CHRISTOPHER "KIP" BATEMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires ten years of legal experience to be eligible to be appointed county prosecutor.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning county prosecutors and amending N.J.S.2A:158-1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S. 2A:158-1 is amended to read as follows:
2A:158-1 [There shall be appointed, for each county, by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate to serve for a term of 5 years and until the appointment and qualification of his successor, some fit person who shall have been admitted to the practice of law in this state for at least 5 years, who shall be known as the county prosecutor and who, except as otherwise provided by law, shall prosecute the pleas of the state in such county and shall have all of the powers and perform all of the duties formerly had and performed by the prosecutor of the pleas of such county. As the term of the prosecutor of the pleas of any county shall expire there shall be appointed in his place and stead such county prosecutor.]
County prosecutors shall prior to appointment have been admitted to the practice of law in this State for at least 10 years.
(cf: N.J.S.2A:158-1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
N.J.S.2A:158-1 presently requires that in order to be qualified to be appointed as a county prosecutor, a lawyer must have been admitted to the practice of law for at least five years. This bill would require a lawyer to be admitted to practice for at least 10 years in order to be eligible to be appointed as a county prosecutor. This bill would also delete from N.J.S.2A:158-1 language which is duplicative of language set forth in New Jersey's Constitution with regard to the appointment and term of office of county prosecutors.
