A5712

An Act concerning sexual assault prevention and response in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and supplementing Title 38A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. The Legislature finds and declares that sexual assault remains a persistent problem in the military despite numerous initiatives to address it. The lack of progress stems from the complexity of the problem of sexual assaults, and it is necessary to develop effective prevention and response programs to increase the reporting of sexual assaults as well as to increase the conviction rates of perpetrators of sexual assault. This Legislature believes that a sexual assault prevention and response program and a coordinator to assist victims is necessary and appropriate to address military sexual assault.

2. a. The Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs shall establish a sexual assault prevention and response program and shall appoint a sexual assault response coordinator. The program and coordinator shall be in, but not of, the department and shall exercise the authority granted under this section independently from the chain of command within the department.

The program shall apply to alleged sexual assaults committed by a service member against another service member, regardless of whether or not either person was on or off duty at the time of the alleged assault.

The coordinator shall provide victim advocacy services, including ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive appropriate responsive care and understand the available reporting options. The coordinator shall notify the person who is a victim of sexual assault of their eligibility for compensation from the Victims of Crime Compensation Office established pursuant to P.L.2007, c.95 (C.52:4B-3.2 et al.).

b. The program shall permit the victim of a sexual assault as that offense is defined in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statues to file a complaint with the coordinator alleging that a service member who is a member of the United States Armed Forces, or a Reserve component thereof, including the New Jersey National Guard, committed the offense. A complaint may be filed if the alleged offense took place while the accused was a service member and subsequently retired or was discharged from service prior to the filing of the complaint.

The program shall permit a victim of sexual harassment to:

(1) file a confidential complaint of sexual harassment with the coordinator alleging that a service member committed the offense;

(2) participate in the United States Department of Defense Catch a Serial Offender Program;

(3) receive notice if the accused is subsequently accused of an offense of sexual assault by a service member or any other person; and

(4) convert a confidential complaint to a formal complaint at any time.

c. Upon the filing of a complaint with the coordinator and with the consent of the victim, the coordinator shall refer the case or allegation of sexual assault as defined in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes to the Office of the Attorney General for investigation. The Attorney General shall designate an employee of the Department of Law and Public Safety to investigate the case or allegation.

If the investigation demonstrates a reasonable suspicion that the offense was committed by a service member, the investigator shall refer the matter to the prosecutor with the appropriate jurisdiction.

d. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the coordinator may file an application with the consent of a person who is a victim for a protective order under Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes on behalf of the victim of a sexual assault alleged to have been committed by a service member.

(2) In addition to the person having standing to file the application under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the coordinator may file an application with the consent of a person who is a victim for a military protective order under the Uniform Code of Military Justice on behalf of the victim of a sexual assault alleged to have been committed by a service member.

e. For the purposes of this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a protective order issued to a person because the person was a reported victim of a sexual assault, as defined in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statues, constitutes reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant of the protective order is the victim of a sexual assault.

f. The Adjutant General or the coordinator shall annually submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) on the activities of the program and the activities of the department relating to sexual assault.

The report shall include:

(1) the policies and procedures implemented by the coordinator and the Adjutant General in response to incidents of sexual assault;

(2) an assessment of the implementation and effectiveness of the program and the policies and procedures on the prevention and oversight of and response to sexual assaults within the department, including an assessment of the department's efforts to execute the priorities of the United States Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office and the department’s sexual assault prevention program;

(3) an analysis of the number of sexual assaults involving members of the New Jersey National Guard;

(4) deficiencies in the department's sexual assault prevention training; and

(5) the department's plans for preventing and responding to sexual assault, including plans relating to: advocacy for sexual assault victims; health care provider and medical response; mental health and counseling response; investigative and legal services; and chaplain response.

g. The information provided in the report required pursuant to subsection f. of this section for restricted cases, as determined by the coordinator, is limited to aggregated statistical data to protect victim privacy and for unrestricted cases, as determined by the coordinator, is limited to aggregated statistical data that at a minimum includes:

(1) statistics relating to the types of offenses investigated under this act;

(2) statistics relating to victims and accused persons;

(3) status of investigations under this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill);

(4) status of prosecutions under this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill); and

(5) status of administrative actions taken by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

h. If any subsection, clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall, for any reason, be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this act.

3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the ninth month next following enactment, except the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Department of Law and Public Safety may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes in the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs a sexual assault prevention and response program.

The Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will appoint an individual to serve as the sexual assault prevention coordinator. The coordinator will provide victim advocacy services, including ensuring that victims of sexual assault receive appropriate responsive care, understand available reporting options, and are notified of eligibility for compensation from the Victims of Crime Compensation Office. The coordinator may also file an application with the consent of the victim for a protective order on behalf of the victim. The protective order may be filed at the State level and with the military authorities.

The program will permit a victim of sexual harassment to:

(1) file a confidential complaint of sexual harassment with the coordinator alleging that a service member committed the offense;

(2) participate in the United States Department of Defense Catch a Serial Offender Program;

(3) receive notice if the accused service member is subsequently accused of an offense of sexual assault by a service member or another person; and

(4) convert a confidential complaint to a formal complaint at any time.

An annual report will be submitted to the Legislature and the Governor on the activities of the program and the activities of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs relating to the prevention of sexual assault. The report will include: (1) the policies and procedures implemented by the coordinator and the Adjutant General in response to incidents of sexual assault; (2) an assessment of the implementation and effectiveness of the program and the policies and procedures on the prevention and oversight of and response to sexual assaults; (3) an analysis of the number of sexual assaults involving members of the New Jersey National Guard; (4) deficiencies in the department's sexual assault prevention training; and (5) the department's plans for preventing and responding to sexual assault.

The program will apply to alleged sexual assaults committed by a service member against another service member, regardless of whether or not either person was on or off duty at the time of the alleged assault. A complaint may be filed if the alleged offense took place while the accused was a service member and retires or is discharged from service prior to the filing of the complaint. Under the bill, “service member” means a member of the United States Armed Forces, or a Reserve component thereof, including the New Jersey National Guard.