ASSEMBLY, No. 2396
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 3, 2020
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Quijano
SYNOPSIS
Expands Office of Public Defender representation of juveniles; repeals section 4 of P.L.1968, c.371.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee on March 5, 2020, with amendments.
An Act concerning legal representation of certain juveniles 1[and amending and],1 supplementing P.L.1968, c.3711, and repealing section 4 of P.L.1968, c.3711.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. 1[(New section)]1 Any person under the age of 18 years arrested or charged with an indictable offense or act of delinquency shall automatically be eligible, at no expense to that person, for representation by the Office of the Public Defender.
1[2. Section 4 of P.L.1968, c.371 (C.2A:158A-25) is amended to read as follows:
Whenever a person formally charged with an indictable offense, or coming within this act, is at least 18 years of age but under the age of 21 years, the question of eligibility for services shall be measured not only in terms of the financial circumstances of the [individual] person, but also in terms of the financial circumstances of the [individual's] person’s parents or legal guardians. The Office of the Public Defender shall be entitled to recover the cost of legal services from the parents or legal guardians of [such] these persons to the same extent and in the same manner as is provided under P.L.1967, chapter 43, and shall have authority to require these parents or legal guardians [of such] to execute and deliver [such] written requests or authorization as may be requisite under applicable law in order to provide the office with access to records of public or private sources, otherwise confidential, as may be of aid to it in evaluating eligibility.
(cf: P.L.1968, c. 371, s.4)]1
12. Section 4 of P.L.1968, c.371 (C.2A:158A-25) is repealed.1
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following enactment.