FISCAL NOTE TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1017

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: OCTOBER 31, 1996

      Assembly Bill No. 1017 of 1996 would impose mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment on persons who buy stolen property from juveniles or "fence " property received from juveniles. Under the bill, a person who receives the stolen property from a person under the age of 18, or "fences" such property, would be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three years in the case of a third degree crime or higher, or for 18 months in the case of a fourth degree crime. During this mandatory minimum sentence the offender would be ineligible for parole.

      The Administrative Office of the Courts states that in the first six months of 1994 there were 589 second and third degree convictions and 22 fourth degree convictions for the offenses named in this bill. Based on this total, the AOC estimates that there would be about 1,222 convictions per year for the general offenses named in this bill. The AOC does not collect data on whether the offenses involved juveniles, however, and is unable to estimate the number of offenders who would be subject to the mandatory minimum term.

      In a fiscal note for the previous Legislative Session, the Department of Corrections stated that these offenses generally do not result in substantial admissions to State facilities. The department noted that it does not maintain sufficient data to determine the number of cases which involve the receipt or fencing of stolen property obtained from juveniles. However, it is estimated that the increased population and costs resulting from this bill would probably be minimal.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurs.

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