This bill amends the distribution process of funds from the Alcohol Education, Rehabilitation and Enforcement Fund (AEREF) to municipalities in New Jersey, specifically for the maintenance of municipal courts. Starting January 15, 2023, each municipality is required to report the number of drunk driving arrests made in the previous calendar year to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The AOC will then certify these reported numbers and use them to calculate the funding allocation for each municipality based on their reported arrests.

The funding allocation process is revised to include a calculation based on the total funding received by each municipality from the AEREF in the preceding year. This amount will be multiplied by 50 percent and divided by the total number of drunk driving arrests in the municipality for that year to determine a unit dollar value per arrest. Additionally, a five-year average of yearly drunk driving arrests will also be used to calculate a separate unit dollar value. The total allocation for each municipality will be based on the proportion of its total unit dollar value relative to the total funds available from the Municipal Court Administration Reimbursement Fund. This revised approach aims to ensure that municipalities receive appropriate funding to support their court systems based on their specific needs and performance in handling drunk driving cases.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 26:2B-35