SENATE, No. 148

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Senators LaROSSA and INVERSO

An Act concerning the reporting of suspected criminal activities on school property and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

    1. a. When the principal or other person responsible for the administration of an elementary or secondary school receives information concerning the commission or suspected commission of a criminal offense in the school or on school property, that person shall immediately report such information to the police department of the municipality where the school is located or to the State Police if there is no police department in that municipality.

    b. A person who violates the provisions of subsection a. shall be subject to a penalty of $500.00. For a second violation, a person shall be subject to a penalty of $1,000.00. For a third or subsequent violation, a person shall be subject to a fine of $3,000.00. An action for the recovery of a penalty for violation of this section shall be within the jurisdiction of the municipal court where the violation is committed. The penalty shall be payable to the municipal clerk for deposit in the municipal treasury. The penalty may be collected by summary proceedings in accordance with "the penalty enforcement law" (N.J.S. 2A:58-1 et seq.).

    c. As used in this section, "criminal offense" includes but is not limited to any offense defined in Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would require the principal of an elementary or secondary school to report information concerning criminal offenses committed in school or on school property to law enforcement authorities. Failure to comply with this reporting requirement would be punishable by the imposition of a monetary penalty. For a first offense, the penalty would be $500.00; for a second offense, $1,000.00 and for a third or any subsequent offense, $3,000.00.

Requires the reporting of criminal offenses occurring on school property to law enforcement authorities.