Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman MICHELE MATSIKOUDIS
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen McClellan and Simonsen
SYNOPSIS
Criminalizes interference with monitoring devices on school buses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the crime of school bus monitoring device interference and amending N.J.S.2C:28-7.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.2C:28-7 is amended to read as follows:
2C:28-7. Tampering with public records or information. a. Offense defined. A person commits an offense if he:
(1) Knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, any record, document or thing belonging to, or received or kept by, the government for information or record, or required by law to be kept by others for information of the government;
(2) Makes, presents, offers for filing, or uses any record, document or thing knowing it to be false, and with purpose that it be taken as a genuine part of information or records referred to in paragraph (1); or
(3) Purposely and unlawfully destroys, conceals, removes, mutilates, or otherwise impairs the verity or availability of any such record, document or thing.
b. Grading. An offense under subsection a. is a disorderly persons offense unless the actor's purpose is to defraud or injure anyone, in which case the offense is a crime of the third degree.
c. A person commits a crime of the fourth degree if he purposely and unlawfully alters, destroys, conceals, removes or disables any camera or other monitoring device including any videotape, film or other medium used to record sound or images that is installed in a patrol vehicle or a school bus.
(cf: P.L.2001, c.219)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the crime of school bus monitoring device interference and makes a violation a crime of the fourth degree.
Under the bill, a person commits the crime of school bus monitoring device interference if the person purposefully and unlawfully alters, destroys, conceals, removes or disables any camera or monitoring device installed on a school bus. Monitoring devices include videotape, film, or other medium used to record sound or images.
A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.