STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CELESTE M. RILEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Caputo, Assemblywoman Wagner and Assemblyman Coutinho
SYNOPSIS
Creates “Inmate Community Service Program” in DOC.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act creating an “Inmate Community Service Program” in the Department of Corrections and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is created within the Department of Corrections an “Inmate Community Service Program.” The purpose of the program is to make inmate labor available to municipalities for projects to make improvements to municipal buildings, grounds, roads, streams, and other municipal property and to increase the visibility of inmates repaying society for their crimes by completing community service projects. For the purposes of this act, “improvements” means construction, alteration, repair, litter abatement, renovation, or maintenance of any eligible municipal property.
b. The program shall be limited to inmates under the custody of the department who are determined by the commissioner not to pose a risk to public safety.
c. Inmates participating in the program shall be subject to strict supervision by the department while in the community.
2. a. The governing body of a municipality that desires to participate in the program shall apply to the commissioner. The application shall be made in accordance with procedures and on forms prescribed by the commissioner and shall indicate the projects for which inmate labor is requested.
b. The commissioner may require a participating municipality to contribute some portion of the cost of administering the program.
3. The commissioner shall promulgate, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) the rules and regulations that are necessary to implement the provisions of this act. These rules and regulations shall include provisions to establish: criteria for determining inmate eligibility; standards for appropriate inmate supervision while working in the community; guidelines for the types of projects for which a municipality may apply for labor assistance; and a method for determining any required municipal contribution to defray the cost of the program, including any appropriate non-monetary compensation.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would create an “Inmate Community Service Program” in the Department of Corrections. The program would make inmate labor available to municipalities to make improvements to municipal buildings, grounds, roads, streams, and other municipal property and to increase the visibility of inmates repaying society for their crimes by completing community service projects.
The program, under the bill, would be limited to those inmates determined by the Commissioner of Corrections not to pose a risk to public safety and inmates would be strictly supervised while working in the community.
A municipality interested in participating in the program would apply to the commissioner for approval. The commissioner may require a participating municipality to contribute some portion of the State’s cost of administering the program.