Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
                              [First Reprint]
                                SENATE, No. 4040
                             STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                              220th LEGISLATURE
                                         DATED: DECEMBER 14, 2023
                                                  SUMMARY
    Synopsis:                   Concerns jurisdiction and operations of regional municipal courts.
    Type of Impact:             Potential local expenditure and revenue increases.
    Agencies Affected:          Certain counties and municipalities.
                                       Office of Legislative Services Estimate
    Fiscal Impact
    Potential Local Expenditure Increase                     Indeterminate
    Potential Local Revenue Increase                         Indeterminate
    The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the governing county of the regional
     municipal court may see an increase in revenues resulting from potential increases in the
     collection of fines and fees. Per the bill, the governing county of a regional municipal court
     may enter into a contract with a private firm for the collection of delinquent fees, fines, costs,
     surcharges, and other penalties on behalf of the regional municipal court. The OLS finds this
     additional option may result in revenue collections that were otherwise unattainable by the
     regional municipal court through other means.
    The OLS determines that this bill will likely not result in any additional expenditures for the
     Judiciary.
                                            BILL DESCRIPTION
    This bill clarifies the jurisdiction of regional municipal courts established under the pilot
program set forth in P.L.2021, c.191. Under the pilot program, a county in cooperation with
five or more municipalities can create a regional municipal court operated by the county to
consolidate the individual courts of participating municipalities.
      Office of Legislative Services                                    Legislative Budget and Finance Office
           State House Annex                                                    Phone (609) 847-3105
              P.O. Box 068                                                       Fax (609) 777-2442
      Trenton, New Jersey 08625                                                  www.njleg.state.nj.us
                                            FE to S4040 [1R]
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    Currently, in addition to having jurisdiction over cases originating from the participating
municipalities, the pilot program also requires regional municipal courts to handle cases filed
by the State Police, any Statewide law enforcement agency, any county law enforcement
agency, any county code enforcement entity, or any other non-municipal law enforcement
agency, on a countywide basis, even if those matters did not originate from a participating
municipality. The bill clarifies that regional municipal courts will no longer be required to hear
State Police or county police cases originating from outside of the participating municipalities.
However, counties may still, by ordinance, confer upon the regional municipal court certain
countywide jurisdiction if the county chooses to do so. The regional municipal court will
retain jurisdiction over currently pending countywide cases, but new cases originating from
non-participating municipalities brought after the effective date of the bill will be filed in their
municipality of origin.
   The bill also clarifies that the county governing body of a regional municipal court may
enter into a contract with a private firm for the collection of delinquent fees, fines, costs,
surcharges, and other penalties on behalf of the regional municipal court, pursuant to the Local
Public Contracts Law.
                                        FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
     None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
   The OLS finds that the governing county of the regional municipal court may see an increase
in revenues resulting from potential increases in the collection of fines and fees. Per the bill, the
governing county of a regional municipal court may enter into a contract with a private firm for
the collection of delinquent fees, fines, costs, surcharges, and other penalties on behalf of the
regional municipal court. The OLS finds this additional option may result in revenue collections
that were otherwise unattainable by the regional municipal court through other means.
    The OLS determines that this bill will likely not result in any additional expenditures for the
Judiciary.
  Section:      Judiciary
  Analyst:      Anuja Pande Joshi
                Senior Fiscal Analyst
  Approved:     Thomas Koenig
                Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).
Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 2B:12-35