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 the municipality from the AEREF in the preceding year, which will be multiplied by 50 percent and divided by the number of drunk driving arrests for that year. Additionally, a five-year average of yearly drunk driving arrests will also be calculated in a similar manner. The total unit dollar value for each arrest will be determined by adding these two figures, and the final allocation to each municipality will be based on its proportion of the total unit dollar value relative to the total funds available from the Municipal Court Administration Reimbursement Fund. This revised approach aims to ensure a more equitable distribution of funds to support municipal court operations.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 26:2B-35