ASSEMBLY LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 863

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 27, 2020

      The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 863.

      As reported by the committee, Assembly Bill No. 863 requires the Attorney General to report bias intimidation offenses to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in the FBI’s annual report on hate crime statistics.

      Under current law, municipal and county law enforcement agencies are required to submit quarterly reports to the Attorney General, which include information regarding crimes committed within their respective jurisdictions.  The Attorney General is required to issue an annual report containing the results of the information reflected in these quarterly reports.

      Under the provisions of this bill, the Attorney General is required to submit to the FBI for inclusion in the FBI’s annual report on hate crime statistics the portion of the State’s annual report containing information gathered under current law relating to any offense directed against a person or group, or their property, by reason of their race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.

      This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2020-2021 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.