STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1076

with Senate Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Senator KEAN)

ADOPTED: JULY 30, 2020

      This bill requires the Attorney General to establish a program to collect, record, and analyze prosecutorial and criminal justice data, which includes race, ethnicity, gender, and age-related information, and issue annual reports. 

      These Senate amendments require the data to be compiled in accordance with the standards of the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity established by the federal Office of Management and Budget.  The amendments also remove from the provisions of the bill the requirement that data include contact between a prosecutorial authority and a victim. 

      In addition, the bill requires the Division of State Police, county prosecutors offices, Administrative Office of the Courts, Department of Corrections, Office of the Public Defender, and local police departments to cooperate with the Attorney General in the implementation of this program, and to assist in data collection and compilation in furtherance of the program to the extent and in the manner required by the Attorney General.

      The Senate amendments also allow the Attorney General to utilize the services of, and enter into agreements with, any public or private entity for the performance of activities in furtherance of the program.   

      Finally, the Senate amendments extend the effective date of the bill from six to 12 months.