FISCAL NOTE TO

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, Nos. 197 and 1464

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATE: OCTOBER 29, 1996

      Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill Nos. 197 and 1464 of 1996 would direct the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to establish a central registry of domestic violence cases. The registry would contain records to identify persons: charged with a domestic violence crime or offense; subject to domestic violence court orders which bar them from purchasing a weapon; or, charged with violations of such court orders. The bill requires the court to conduct a search of the registry prior to issuing any order in a domestic violence case. When the court is closed, the bill requires the police to access the registry when a person is arrested for contempt of a domestic violence order. The bill also requires the police to consult the registry when evaluating applications for firearms purchaser identification cards and permits to purchase handguns. The bill appropriates $2.1 million to the AOC to establish the central registry and implement the provisions of the bill.

      A permit to purchase a handgun is required for every handgun purchased. A purchaser identification card may be used to purchase an unlimited number of rifles and shotguns. According to the State Police, there were 33,564 permits to purchase handguns and 16,561 identification firearms purchaser identification cards issued in 1995. The State Police informally estimate that there will be no additional costs to the State or local police to implement this bill.

      The AOC stated that in order to develop a central registry of domestic violence court orders, it would be necessary to implement the system in three phases.

      Phase I would consist of completion of the statewide implementation of the domestic violence portions of the Family Automated Case Tracking System (FACTS); development of a summary inquiry system reflecting all outstanding court orders against particular defendants; modifications of the FACTS system to permit 24-hour updating of temporary and final court orders; and installation of equipment to enable sheriff''s departments to serve as central 24-hour registries. The total equipment costs for this phase would be $447,800. The development, training and documentation cost would total $120,000. Annual communications expenditures would be $32,200 for a total Phase I cost of $600,000, according to the AOC.

      Phase II would consist of a linkage between FACTS and PROMIS/GAVEL (Criminal Case Management System), providing for a common view of information pertaining to defendants of domestic violence offenses and relevant information on indictable offenses. The cost of this phase would total $275,000 for development, training and documentation, according to the AOC.

      Phase III would consist of designing, developing and implementing an interface enabling ACS (Automated Criminal System), FACTS, PROMIS/GAVEL and CCIS (County Corrections Information System) to share common data related to domestic violence matters and the status of related restraining orders. The Phase III cost would total $1,260,000 for development, training, and documentation, according to the AOC.

      The total AOC cost to implement the provisions of this bill would be $2,135,000.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurs with this estimate and notes that the appropriation provided in this bill should be sufficient for the one-time implementation expenses.

This fiscal note has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.