Sponsored by:
Senator DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO
District 8 (Atlantic, Burlington and Camden)
Senator KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Oroho
SYNOPSIS
Creates special education unit within the Office of Administrative Law; requires annual report.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the Office of Administrative Law and special education and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Law shall establish within the Office of Administrative Law a special education unit consisting of administrative law judges having expertise in special education law. The number of administrative law judges in the special education unit shall be proportional to the number and complexity of special education cases referred to the office.
b. Upon the establishment of the special education unit, all contested cases, as defined in section 2 of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-2), concerning special education law referred to the Office of Administrative Law shall be assigned to and adjudicated by the administrative law judges in the special education unit.
2. The Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge shall prepare an annual report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature regarding the special education unit established under section 1 of P.L. c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The report shall include statistics regarding a. the number of special education cases referred to the special education unit during the reporting period; b. the number of special education cases resolved by the special education unit during the reporting period; c. the average number of cases pending before the special education unit during the reporting period; d. the average time to resolution of the special education cases, e. a brief description of the outcome of the resolved cases and f. other relevant information and recommendations at the discretion of the Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the ninth month next following enactment except the Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Law may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish a unit within the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) dedicated to special education cases. The special education unit would consist of administrative law judges having expertise in special education law. The number of administrative law judges in the unit would be proportional to the number and complexity of special education cases referred to the OAL.
Under the bill, all contested cases concerning special education law referred to the Office of Administrative Law would be assigned to and adjudicated by the administrative law judges in the special education unit.
The bill directs the Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge shall prepare an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature regarding a. the number of special education cases referred to the special education unit during the reporting period; b. the number of special education cases resolved by the special education unit during the reporting period; c. the average number of cases pending before the special education unit during the reporting period; d. the average time to resolution of the special education cases, e. a brief description of the outcome of the resolved cases and f. other relevant information and recommendations at the discretion of the Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge..
The bill has a delayed effective date in order to allow the OAL to develop a timeline for training judges and assigning judges to the new unit. The bill would take effect on the first day of the ninth month next following enactment except the Director and Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Office of Administrative Law may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of the bill.