LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 591

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 28, 1996

      Assembly Bill No. 591 of 1996 provides that a person convicted of sexual assault or aggravated criminal sexual contact would be considered a repeat offender if that person had been previously adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for an act which would constitute a sex crime if committed by an adult. The bill also permits a judge to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than five years with no parole, at the judge's discretion.

      In a fiscal note prepared for the previous Legislative session, the Department of Corrections stated that the data which would identify sex offenders who had histories of juvenile adjudications for sex offenses was not maintained in a form that is easily accessible. Therefore, it was unable to determine the actual impact of the bill's implementation. However, the department noted that implementation would result in an increase in the length of stay of those inmates meeting the criteria set forth.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurs and adds that the operation of the juvenile institutions and the responsibility for gathering statistics concerning juvenile adjudications, has been transferred from the Department of Corrections to the Juvenile Justice Commission within the Department of Law and Public Safety.

      The legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

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