S2167

An Act to establish a driver license suspension review panel.

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

1. There is established a “Blue Ribbon Panel to Review New Jersey’s Driver License Suspension Laws.” The panel shall consist of 11 members as follows:

a. The Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission, or a designee, who shall serve ex officio;

b. Six public members to be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be a former municipal court judge, one of whom shall be a former municipal court prosecutor, and one of whom shall be an attorney with experience practicing in municipal court;

c. Two members of the Senate, one appointed by the Senate President and one appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; and

d. Two members of the General Assembly, one appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and one appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly.

The appointed members, other than the members of the Senate and General Assembly, shall by training and experience have knowledge of and an interest in municipal court practice and motor vehicle regulation particularly relating to the issues of safe driving, motor vehicle violations and motor vehicle law enforcement.

Any vacancy in the membership of the panel shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointment was made.

2. a. The panel shall organize as soon as possible after the appointment of its members and shall elect from among its members who are not members of the Senate or General Assembly a chairperson and a vice-chairperson.

b. The members of the panel shall serve without compensation, but shall be eligible for reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the panel for its purposes.

c. The panel shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services and assistance of the officials and employees of the State and its political subdivisions and their departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, and agencies as it may require and as may be available to it for the purposes of the panel and may expend those funds as may be appropriated or otherwise made available to it for the purposes of its study.

3. The panel shall study, examine, and review the issue of driver license suspension penalties in New Jersey. In conducting its inquiry, the panel shall study and evaluate the appropriateness and consistency of the license suspension penalties in Title 39 of the New Jersey Statutes, survey and assess the application of current driver license suspension laws in municipal courts, study and evaluate the role of municipal court judges and the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission in imposing driver license suspensions, and make recommendations regarding changes to the driver license suspension laws, and such other issues and matters as the panel may deem appropriate to fulfill the scope of its charge.

4. The panel shall issue its final report of its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature no more than six months following the first organizational meeting of the panel.

5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the filing of the panel's final report to the Governor and Legislature in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill would establish the “Blue Ribbon Panel to Review New Jersey’s Driver License Suspension Laws,” to study, examine, and review the issue of driver license suspension penalties in the State. Under current law, N.J.S.A.39:5-31 provides that a municipal judge may revoke the license of any person to drive a motor vehicle when such person is found guilty of a willful violation of the Motor Vehicle Code. This statute is the subject of a recent Appellate Division decision, currently being considered by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The Appellate Division found, “It would indeed be sensible for the Legislature to consider amending N.J.S.A.39:5-31 to include limitations and guidelines.” State v. Moran, 408 N.J. Super. 412 (App. Div. 2009), cert. granted, 200 N.J. 547 (2009).

The panel is mandated to study, examine, and review the issue of driver license suspension penalties in New Jersey. In conducting its inquiry, the panel would study and evaluate the appropriateness and consistency of the driver license suspension penalties in Title 39 of the New Jersey Statutes, survey and assess the application of current driver license suspension laws in municipal courts, and make recommendations regarding changes to the driver license suspension laws, and such other issues and matters as the panel may deem appropriate to fulfill the scope of its charge.

The panel would consist of 11 members including the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission. The panel would also include six public members who would be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be a former municipal court judge, one of whom shall be a former municipal court prosecutor, and one of whom would be an Attorney with experience practicing in municipal court. Two members of the panel would be members of the Senate, one would be appointed by the Senate President and one by the Minority Leader of the Senate. The two final members would be members of the General Assembly, one appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and one appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly.

The panel is to complete its work within six months, reporting its findings, conclusions and recommendations to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature.