Sponsored by:
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires State Treasurer to reimburse county treasurer for defense costs and administrative expenses incurred by county in defending certain lawsuits during supersedure of county prosecutor by Attorney General.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain county costs and amending N.J.S.2A:158-7 and P.L.1970, c.74.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.2A:158-7 is amended to read as follows:
2A:158-7. Except as provided in section 2 of P.L.2019, c.233 (C.2A:158-7.1) and section 10 of P.L.1970, c.74 (C.52:17B-106), all necessary expenses incurred by the prosecutor for each county in the detection, arrest, indictment and conviction of offenders against the laws shall, upon being certified to by the prosecutor and approved, under his hand, by a judge of the Superior Court, be paid by the county treasurer whenever the same shall be approved by the board of chosen freeholders of such county. The amount or amounts to be expended shall not exceed the amount fixed by the board of chosen freeholders in its regular or emergency appropriation, unless such expenditure is specifically authorized by order of the assignment judge of the Superior Court for such county; however, the assignment judge shall consider the financial impact of such an order on the governing body of the county, its residents, the limitations imposed upon the local unit's property tax levy pursuant to subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), and county taxpayers.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.233, s.1)
2. Section 10 of P.L.1970, c.74 (C.52:17B-106) is amended to read as follows:.
10.a. Whenever requested in writing by the Governor, the Attorney General shall, and whenever requested in writing by a grand jury or the board of [chosen freeholders] county commissioners of a county or the assignment judge of the superior court for the county, the Attorney General may supersede the county prosecutor for the purpose of prosecuting all of the criminal business of the State in said county, intervene in any investigation, criminal action, or proceeding instituted by the county prosecutor, and appear for the State in any court or tribunal for the purpose of conducting such investigations, criminal actions or proceedings as shall be necessary for the protection of the rights and interests of the State.
b. Whenever the Attorney General shall have superseded a county prosecutor [as aforesaid,] pursuant to subsection a. of this section:
(1) the county prosecutor, the assistant county prosecutors and other members of the staff of the county prosecutor shall exercise only such powers and perform such duties as are required of them by the Attorney General; and
(2) the State Treasurer shall reimburse the county treasurer for defense costs and administrative expenses incurred by the county during the supersedure in defending any civil action brought against the Attorney General in the Attorney Generals role as acting county prosecutor. As used in this paragraph, administrative expenses includes, but is not limited to, expenses concerning personnel matters.
(cf: P.L.1970, c.74, s.10)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the State Treasurer to reimburse the county treasurer for defense costs and administrative expenses incurred by the county in defending civil actions brought against the Attorney General when the Attorney General serves as acting county prosecutor.
Under current law, the Attorney General may supersede a county prosecutor when requested by the Governor, a grand jury, or the board of county commissioners. During the supersedure, a representative of the Attorney Generals office acts as temporary county prosecutor for the purpose of prosecuting crimes in the county, intervening in investigations, criminal actions, or proceedings, and appearing in court.
This bill is in response to a recent case involving an acting county prosecutor serving during supersedure. The acting county prosecutor was sued for discrimination by employees of the county prosecutors office. The Attorney General refused to defend and indemnify the acting county prosecutor, who was an employee of the Office of the Attorney General and was asked to serve in the role. The Attorney Generals refusal was upheld by the Appellate Division. The court held that the law requires the State to defend and indemnify an acting county prosecutor only if a lawsuit is based on law enforcement functions carried out by the acting prosecutor. However, the court ruled, if a lawsuit in question involves administrative functions and not law enforcement functions, as in this case, the State has no obligation to pay the costs of defending the suit. See In re Ruotolo, 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 624 (App. Div. 2022), cert. den. Matter of Ruotolo, 252 N.J. 176 (2022).
Under this bill, the State would be required to defend and indemnify an acting county prosecutor during supersedure in case of a lawsuit based on administrative functions as well.