Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Permits transfer of escheated civil forfeiture funds from Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund to General Fund for appropriation to Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations act, P.L.2019, c.150.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The following language provision is added to the General Provisions of P.L.2019, c.150, the annual State appropriations act for Fiscal Year 2020, as amended and supplemented by P.L.2020, c.43:
105. Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary, in addition to any other amounts transferred from the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund to the General Fund and appropriated herein, there is appropriated from the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund for transfer to the General Fund, an amount not to exceed $2,400,000 comprising unclaimed assets seized by the County of Essex prior to January 1, 2017 pursuant to N.J.S.2C:64-1 et seq., and deposited in the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund on or after July 1, 2020, which amount is appropriated subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting to the Office of the Essex County Prosecutor for law enforcement purposes including, but not limited to, the implementation of a county-wide police body-worn camera and video storage program.
2. Section 105 of P.L.2019, c.150 is amended to read as follows:
[105.] 106. this act shall take effect on July 1, 2019.
(cf: P.L.2020, c.43, s.9)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill supplements P.L.2019, c.105, the Fiscal Year 2020 annual State appropriations act, to add a General Provision transferring unclaimed assets totaling $2.4 million from the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund to the General Fund for appropriation to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The proposed General Provision requires the transferred funds for law enforcement costs, including, but not limited to, the funding of a county-wide police body-worn camera and video storage program.
The bill transfers assets seized by the County of Essex pursuant to the State’s civil forfeiture laws (N.J.S.2C:64-1 et seq.). These assets were held by the Essex County Prosecutor for three years following their seizure and escheated to the State’s Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund, in accordance with standard operating procedures issued by the Attorney General regarding forfeiture program administration.
The unclaimed assets authorized for transfer under the bill were seized by the County of Essex prior to January 1, 2017 and escheated to the Unclaimed Personal Property Trust Fund on or after July 1, 2020.