Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Makes FY2024 supplemental appropriation of $750,000 providing for additional attorneys dedicated to juvenile matters.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, P.L.2023, c.74.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2023, c.74, the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, there is appropriated from the General Fund the following amount for the purpose specified:
80 Special Government Services
82 Protection of Citizens Rights
57 Trial Services to Indigents
2021 Office of the Public Defender
Direct State Services
57-2021 Trial Services to Indigents ..................................... $750,000
Total Direct State Services appropriation,
Trial Services to Indigents ................................ $750,0000
Direct State Services:
57 Trial services to Indigents.......................... $750,000
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill supplements the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations act to provide $750,000 in supplemental funding to the Office of the Public Defenders (OPD) Trial Services to Indigents program. The OPD is in-but-not-of the Department of Treasury.
More specifically, the funding will provide for eight additional attorneys dedicated to juvenile post-dispositional work and juvenile caseload reduction in some of the highest volume regions, namely, Essex and Atlantic counties.
According to the OPD, youth custodial sentences are on the rise. In 2022, New Jersey had 277 youth in custody. As of April 4, 2024, there were 339. The OPD notes that the length of stay is also on the rise. For example, in Atlantic County, the length of a custodial sentence for a juvenile has increased by 359 percent between 2022 and 2024. The OPD estimates a 25-30 percent increase in youth defense caseloads in the next fiscal year.
P.L.2021, c.383 expanded the mandate of the OPD to require representation of juvenile defendants, many of whom are on the cusp of reentering society as adults. This has resulted in an increase in juvenile cases for the OPD.