ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, Nos. 1823 and 2390

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

 

ADOPTED DECEMBER 16, 1996

 

 

Sponsored by Assemblymen O'TOOLE, ZECKER and WEINGARTEN

 

 

An Act concerning the costs of incarceration in county correctional facilities and detention in municipal detention facilities, and supplementing chapter 8 of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

      1. A person sentenced to imprisonment or ordered to pretrial or investigative detention in a county correctional facility or held in a municipal detention facility shall be liable for the amount the county or municipality expends for that inmate's or detainee's custody, care and maintenance during incarceration or detention; provided, however, that in the case of pretrial or investigative detention or detention in a municipal facility, the detainee shall be liable only if found guilty of the offense for which he was detained.

      If a county or municipality chooses to exercise its authority to charge inmates and detainees for the costs associated with their incarceration or detention, the amount due and payable from each inmate or detainee pursuant to this section shall be determined by the county treasurer or authority responsible for administering the municipal detention facility, as the case may be. In making the determination, the treasurer or municipal authority shall calculate the per capita cost of providing for an inmate's or detainee's custody, care and maintenance in the county correctional facility or municipal detention facility and shall establish a graduated schedule setting forth the percentage of that per capita cost due and payable by the inmate or detainee based upon that inmate's or detainee's ability to pay. In no case shall the amount the county treasurer or municipal authority determines to be due and payable by an inmate or detainee pursuant to this section exceed the actual, certifiable cost incurred by the county in providing for the custody, care and maintenance of that inmate or detainee. The determinations and schedules authorized under this paragraph shall be established by the county treasurer or municipal authority, as the case may be, in consultation with the county adjuster.

      2. The county wherein the inmate is incarcerated, regardless of whether the county correctional facility is operated and administered under the provisions of R.S.30:8-17 or R.S.30:8-19, and the municipality wherein the detainee is detained shall have a lien against the property and income of that inmate or detainee for the total amount determined by the county treasurer or municipal authority pursuant to section 1 of this act, to be due and payable by the inmate or detainee for the costs incurred by the county or municipality in providing for the custody, care and maintenance of that inmate or detainee. The lien when properly filed as set forth herein shall have priority over all unrecorded encumbrances.

 

      3. The lien shall be in the form prescribed by law and shall contain the name of the inmate or detainee, date of the inmate or detainee's incarceration, the per capita cost rate for the inmate or detainee's incarceration and the total amount due the county or municipality, as the case may be, on the date of the filing of the lien, together a with notice of the rate of accumulation of that amount due thereafter, if applicable. In the case of a county, the lien shall be signed by the county treasurer or the treasurer's duly authorized agent. In the case of a municipality, the lien shall be signed by the appropriate municipal authority or his duly authorized agent. Nothing herein shall preclude the county or municipality, as the case may be, from recovering any amount expended for the custody, care and maintenance of an inmate or detainee that was not secured by a lien.

 

      4. The lien shall be filed with the clerk of the county or the register of deeds and mortgages, as the case may be, and shall immediately attach to and become binding upon all real property in the ownership of the inmate or detainee in the county wherein the lien is filed and shall have the force and effect of a money judgment of the Superior Court.

      If it is believed that the inmate or detainee is the owner of real property within the State, but the exact location of that property is not known, then the lien may be filed with the clerk of the Superior Court and shall become binding upon all real property of the inmate or detainee wherever situated within the State.

 

      5. If it is found that any inmate or detainee is possessed of any goods, rights, credits, chattels, moneys or effects which are held by any person, firm or corporation for the present or subsequent use of that inmate or detainee, then the lien, or a notice thereof, may be forwarded by registered mail to that person, firm or corporation and shall become binding upon any property rights so held. The person, firm or corporation shall thereafter be precluded from disposing of the property rights until the lien is satisfied or until the holder of the lien consents thereto.

      Any person, firm or corporation disposing of any such property or moneys after receipt of notice of a lien authorized under this act shall be liable to the county or municipality, as the case may be, for the value of the property or moneys so disposed; provided, however, that when the corporation served notice pursuant to this section is a banking institution, the lien shall be effective only in the amount set forth in that notice.

 

      6. The clerk of the county, register of deeds and mortgages or clerk of the Superior Court, as the case may be, shall provide suitable books in which shall be entered the liens filed pursuant to this act. All such entries shall be properly indexed in the name of the inmate or detainee.

      All liens, and any related documentation which may be required, shall be received and recorded by the clerk of the county, register of deeds and mortgages or clerk of the Superior Court, as the case may be, without fee.

 

      7. To discharge any lien filed under the provisions of this act, the county treasurer, or the treasurer's duly authorized agent, in the case of a county, or the appropriate municipal authority, or that authority's duly authorized agent, in the case of a municipality, shall file with the clerk of the county, the register of deeds and mortgages or clerk of the Superior Court, as the case may be, a duly acknowledged certificate setting forth the fact that the county or municipality desires to discharge the lien of record.

      The governing body of the county, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, and the governing body of a municipality, by ordinance, may authorize the county treasurer or appropriate municipal authority, as the case may be, to compromise for settlement any lien filed under the provisions of this act for the total amount due the county or municipality for the custody, care and maintenance provided during an inmate's incarceration or detainee's detention. Any such ordinance or resolution shall provide that a memorandum of the compromise and settlement signed by the county treasurer or the appropriate municipal authority, as the case may be, shall be sufficient authorization for a complete discharge of the lien.

 

      8. Any person desiring to secure immediate discharge of any lien filed under the provisions of this act may deposit with the court an amount of cash sufficient to cover the amount of the lien or post a bond in a proper amount and with sureties approved by the court. Upon proper notice to the county treasurer or appropriate municipal authority, a satisfaction of the lien shall be filed with the clerk of the county or the register of deeds and mortgages, as the case may be.

 

       9. a. Nothing in R.S.30:8-17 concerning a sheriff's responsibility to provide for the care and custody of the prisoners in a jail under the sheriff's control shall be construed to prohibit, restrict or otherwise hinder the county from holding an inmate liable for the actual amounts the county expended in providing for the custody, care and maintenance of that inmate during the inmate's incarceration, as provided in section 1 of PL. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill) or, to ensure the payment of those amounts, placing a lien against the property and income of that inmate, in accordance with the provisions of sections 2 through 8 of PL. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

      b. Nothing in R.S.30:8-18 concerning the county governing body's responsibility to provide for the custody and care of the inmates in a jail under its control shall be construed to prohibit, restrict or otherwise hinder the county from holding an inmate liable for the actual amounts the county expended in providing for the custody, care and maintenance of that inmate during the inmate's incarceration, as provided in section 1 of PL. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill) or, to ensure the payment of those amounts, placing a lien against the property and income of that inmate, in accordance with the provisions of sections 2 through 8 of PL. , c. (C. )(now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

 

      10. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following enactment.

 

 

 

Authorizes counties and municipalities to charge inmates' and detainees' incarceration costs and place a lien to ensure payment.