S2689

An Act concerning the enforcement of animal cruelty laws and amending the effective date of P.L.2017, c.331.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 36 of P.L.2017, c.331 is amended to read as follows:

36. [This] Sections 1 through 24 and 30 through 32 of this act shall take effect on the first day of the [seventh] 13th month following the date of enactment, [except that] section 35 of this act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month following the date of enactment, sections 25 [, 26, 27, and 28] through 29 of this act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following the date of enactment, [sections 33, 34, and 36] the remainder of this act shall take effect immediately, and the Attorney General and any county prosecutor or governing body of a municipality may take any administrative action in advance [thereof] of those dates as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would revise the effective dates of various sections of P.L.2017, c.331 (C.4:22-14.1 et al.). That 2017 law revised the way in which animal cruelty law is enforced in the State by, among other things, transferring the power of humane law enforcement from the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) to the county prosecutor in each county, and requiring the designation of a municipal humane law enforcement officer in each municipality with an existing police department.

Specifically, the bill would delay the effective dates of most of the sections of P.L.2017, c.331 from the first day of the seventh month after the date of enactment of P.L.2017, c.331 (i.e., August 1, 2018) to the first day of the 13th month after that enactment date (i.e., February 1, 2019). The date of enactment of P.L.2017, c.331 was January 16, 2018.

In addition, under this bill, sections 25 through 28 of P.L.2017, c.331 would continue to have the effective date of May 1, 2018 (thus, they have already taken effect and would continue to be in effect under the bill). Section 29 (which pertains to applications for designation as a humane law enforcement officer of a county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals) of P.L.2017, c.331 would take effect on the first day of the fourth month after the date of enactment of P.L.2017, c.331 (i.e., retroactively under the bill to May 1, 2018), section 35 (which repeals certain sections of existing law concerning the NJSPCA and concerning certain animal cruelty law enforcement powers of animal control officers) would take effect on August 1, 2018, and the remainder of P.L.2017, c.331 would continue to have the existing effective date of January 16, 2018.

Thus, to summarize, under the bill, the revised effective dates for the various sections of P.L.2017, c.331 would be as follows, listed in chronological order of when they already took effect or will take effect in the future because of this bill:

Section 33 (which prohibits the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals from taking certain actions with regard to the charters of county societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and provides that the act should not be construed to require county societies to surrender any of their assets) took effect on January 16, 2018, and would remain in effect under the bill.

Section 34 (which pertains to certain responsibilities of the Attorney General under the act) of P.L.2017, c.331 took effect on January 16, 2018, and would remain in effect under the bill.

Sections 25 (which pertains to municipal responsibilities under the act), 26 (which pertains to applications for designation as a municipal humane law enforcement officer), 27 (which pertains to continuing eligibility of former humane law enforcement officers or agents), and 28 (which pertains to county prosecutor responsibilities under the act) of P.L.2017, c.331 took effect on May 1, 2018, and would remain in effect under the bill.

Section 29 (which pertains to applications for designation as a humane law enforcement officer of a county society for the prevention of cruelty to animals) of P.L.2017, c.331 would take effect (retroactively under the bill) on May 1, 2018, instead of on August 1, 2018.

Section 35 (which repeals certain sections of existing law concerning the NJSPCA and concerning certain animal cruelty law enforcement powers of animal control officers) of P.L.2017, c.331 would continue under this bill to take effect on August 1, 2018.

Sections 1 through 24 and 30 through 32 of P.L.2017, c.331 would take effect on February 1, 2019, instead of on August 1, 2018.