[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 861

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblymen MALONE, COTTRELL, Azzolina, Blee and Arnone

An Act concerning senior citizens and supplementing chapter 43 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Senior Citizens Protection Act."

    2. As used in this act:

    "Adult day care facility" means any building or structure which primarily provides services designed to meet the needs of senior citizens.

    "Housing for older persons" means housing which meets the requirements established pursuant to the federal "Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988," Pub.L.100-430 (42 U.S.C.3601 et seq.).

    "Senior citizen" means a person 62 years of age or over.

    "Senior citizen zone" means an area designated by the governing body of a municipality where 70% of the population are senior citizens.

    3. a. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:43-3 or any other law to the contrary, any person who is convicted of a crime of violence against a senior citizen, including but not limited to: N.J.S.2C:11-3; N.J.S.2C:11-4; subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:12-1; N.J.S.2C:13-1; subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:14-2 or N.J.S.2C:15-1¹,¹ while ¹in an adult day care facility,¹ on any property ¹[owned by or leased to any]on which an¹ adult day care facility ¹is located¹,¹in¹ any housing for older persons or ¹in¹ any other area designated as a "senior citizen zone¹,¹" or within 1,000 feet of those areas¹,¹ shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The term of imprisonment shall include the imposition of a minimum term which shall be fixed at ¹[, or between one-half and]¹ three-fourths of the sentence imposed or one year, whichever is greater, during which the defendant shall be ineligible for parole.

    b. The court shall not consider or accept a negotiated plea or post conviction agreement to resolve the charges against any person who violates the provisions of this act.

    c. In a prosecution under this act, a map produced or reproduced by any municipal or county engineer for the purpose of depicting the location and boundaries of the buildings or grounds designated as an adult ¹day ¹ care facility, housing for older persons or a senior citizen zone and used for such purposes ¹[, or within] and the boundaries¹ 1,000 feet ¹[of any property used for adult day care purposes which is owned by or leased to any adult day care facility] from those areas¹, or a true copy of such a map, shall be admissible upon proper authentication, and shall constitute prima facie evidence of the location and boundaries of those areas, provided that the governing body of the municipality or county has adopted a resolution or ordinance approving the map as the official finding and record of the location and boundaries of those areas. Any map approved pursuant to this section may be changed from time to time by the governing body of the municipality or county. The original of every map approved or revised pursuant to this section, or a true copy thereof, shall be filed with the clerk of the municipality or county, and shall be maintained as an official record of the municipality or county. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude the prosecution from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish any element of this offense; nor shall this section be construed to preclude the use or admissibility of any map or diagram other than one which has been approved by the governing body of a municipality or county, provided that the map or diagram is otherwise admissible pursuant to the Rules of Evidence.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Enacts the "Senior Citizens Protection Act"; authorizes municipalities to create senior citizen zones; imposes mandatory terms of imprisonment.