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, municipalities are 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, which will be used to calculate the funding allocated to each municipality.

The funding allocation process is revised to include a calculation based on the total amount of 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 for each arrest. Additionally, a five-year average of yearly drunk driving arrests will also be calculated to establish a five-year unit dollar value. The total unit dollar value for each arrest will be the sum of these two calculations, 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.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 26:2B-35