S4798

An Act concerning retired correctional police officers and supplementing chapter 14 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. a. As used in this act :

“Chief executive officer” means any person designated with primary responsibility for and authority over the operation and management of a county correctional facility, such as the county sheriff, warden, or executive director or chief officer of the facility.

"Special correctional police officer" means any person appointed pursuant to this act to temporarily or intermittently perform duties similar to those performed regularly by a correctional police officer at a county correctional facility, or to provide assistance at a county correctional facility during unusual or emergency circumstances.

b. The appointing authority of a county correctional facility may appoint special correctional police officers sufficient to perform the duties and responsibilities of a correctional police officer at a county correctional facility.

c. Before any county correctional police officer is appointed pursuant to this act, the chief executive of the county correctional facility shall ascertain the eligibility and qualifications of the applicant and report these determinations in writing to the appointing authority.

d. A person shall not be appointed as a special correctional police officer unless the person:

(1) is a resident of this State during the term of appointment;

(2) is of good moral character;

(3) has not been convicted of any offense involving dishonesty or which would make the person unfit to perform the duties of a correctional police officer;

(4) is a retired State or county correctional police officer who is less than 65 years of age; for the purposes of this paragraph, a correctional police officer shall not be considered retired if the officer's return to employment violates any federal or State law or regulation which would deem the officer's retirement as not being bona fide;

(5) had served as a duly qualified, fully-trained, full-time correctional police officer at any State or county correctional facility in any position eligible for participation in the Police and Firemen's Retirement System and was separated from that prior service in good standing, excluding retirement resulting from injury or incapacity;

(6) is physically capable of performing the functions of the position, in accordance with applicable standards established by the appointing authority or county correctional facility;

(7) has successfully completed training at the Corrections’ Officers’ Training Academy of the Department of Corrections or at a basic training program for correctional police officers established by a county; and

(8) is hired in a part-time capacity.

e. Every applicant for the position of special correctional police officer shall undergo a criminal history record background check and shall submit to the chief executive of the county correctional facility that applicant’s name, address, and fingerprints taken by a State or municipal law enforcement agency. A criminal history record background check shall not be performed pursuant to this act unless the applicant has furnished written consent to the check.

The chief executive of the county correctional facility is authorized to exchange fingerprint data with and to receive criminal history record information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Division of State Police for use in making determinations required by this act. The fingerprints of any applicant subject to a criminal history record background check, with that person's written consent, shall be submitted to the Superintendent of State Police for a criminal history record background check.

The superintendent shall compare these fingerprints with fingerprints on file with the Bureau of Identification in the Division of State Police, Department of Law and Public Safety, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, consistent with State and federal laws, rules, and regulations. The Division of State Police shall promptly notify the chief executive of the county correctional facility if a person who was the subject of a criminal history record background check conducted pursuant to this subsection is convicted of a crime or offense in this State after the date that the criminal history record background check was performed.

Upon receipt of such notification, the chief executive shall determine whether the applicant qualifies for appointment as a special correctional police officer.

The cost of a criminal history record background check, including all administrative and processing costs, shall be borne by the county correctional facility or the applicant.

f. A person shall not be appointed to serve as a special correctional police officer in more than one county at the same time, nor shall any permanent, regularly appointed correctional police officer of any State or county correctional facility be appointed as a special correctional police officer.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill permits the temporary part-time appointment of special correctional police officers to perform duties at county correctional facilities.

Under the bill, the appointing authority of a county correctional facility may appoint special correctional police officers sufficient to perform the duties and responsibilities of correctional police officers at the facility. The bill requires the chief executive of the county correctional facility to ascertain an applicant’s eligibility and qualifications and report these determinations in writing to the appointing authority before the appointment is made. The bill defines “chief executive officer” as any person designated as having primary responsibility for and authority over the operation and management of a county correctional facility, which may include, as applicable, the county sheriff, warden, or other executive director or officer of a county correctional facility.

Under the bill, a person is prohibited from being appointed as a special correctional police officer unless the person:

(1) is a resident of this State during the term of appointment;

(2) is of good moral character;

(3) has not been convicted of any offense involving dishonesty or which would make them unfit to perform the duties of a correctional police officer;

(4) is a retired State or county correctional police officer who is less than 65 years of age;

(5) has served as a duly qualified, fully-trained, full-time correctional police officer at any State or county correctional facility in any position eligible for participation in the Police and Firemen's Retirement System and has been separated from that prior service in good standing, excluding retirement resulting from injury or incapacity;

(6) is physically capable of performing the functions of the position, in accordance with applicable standards established by the appointing authority or county correctional facility;

(7) has successfully completed training at the Corrections’ Officers’ Training Academy of the Department of Corrections or at a basic training program for corrections officers established by a county; and

(8) is hired in a part-time capacity.

The bill requires every applicant for the position of special correctional police officer to undergo a criminal history record background check and submit to the chief executive of the county correctional facility the applicant’s name, address, and fingerprints taken by a State or municipal law enforcement agency.

In addition, the bill provides that a person cannot be appointed to serve as a special correctional police officer in more than one county at the same time, or be a permanent, regularly appointed correctional police officer of any State or county correctional facility.