Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Handlin
SYNOPSIS
Requires Attorney General to develop written guidelines concerning communication between bail agents and inmates; requires county correctional facilities to adopt policies in compliance, per SCI recommendations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning county correctional facilities and bail agents 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. In consultation with the Department of Corrections, the New Jersey County Jail Wardens Association, and any other organization deemed appropriate by the Attorney General, the Attorney General shall develop for dissemination uniform guidelines to regulate communication between individuals incarcerated in county correctional facilities and bail agents, agencies, and their representatives.
The uniform guidelines are to be promulgated within 180 days of the effective date of this act and shall: (1) prohibit solicitation of incarcerated individuals by bail agents, agencies and their representatives; (2) prohibit the facilitation of three-way telephone calls between incarcerated individuals and third parties; (3) include a schedule of sanctions ranging from suspension of access to revocation of access for repeat offenders; (4) implement any other restrictions deemed appropriate to prevent abuse of the bail bond system; and (5) require a county correctional facility to assign specific staff to monitor and enforce the regulations.
b. A county correctional facility shall adopt and implement written regulations concerning communication between incarcerated individuals by bail agents, agencies and their representatives. The regulations are to comply with the uniform guidelines promulgated pursuant to subsection a. of this act
c. For the purposes of this section:
"Bail agent or agency" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 1 of P.L.2003, c.202 (C.17:31-10).
“County correctional facility” means any prison or other secure facility managed and operated by any county of this State in which adult offenders are incarcerated.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following the date of enactment, but the Attorney General may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that all county correctional facilities are to have written regulations concerning communication between incarcerated individuals and bail agents, agencies and their representatives.
The bill requires the Attorney General to develop and disseminate uniform guidelines that:
(1) prohibit solicitation of incarcerated individuals by bail agents, agencies and their representatives;
(2) prohibit the facilitation of three-way telephone calls between incarcerated individuals and third parties;
(3) include a schedule of sanctions ranging from suspension of access to revocation of access for repeat offenders;
(4) implement any other restrictions deemed appropriate to prevent abuse of the bail bond system; and
(5) require a county correctional facility to assign specific staff to monitor and enforce the regulations.
The bill provides that any regulations adopted by a county correctional facility are to comply with the uniform guidelines developed by the Attorney General.