SENATE, No. 320

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Senator LITTELL

An Act concerning the siting of correctional facilities in State parks and forests and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. Within three years of the effective date of this act, the Department of Corrections shall cease operation of all correctional facilities located on the grounds of a State park or forest as defined in section 3 of P.L.1983, c.324 (C.13:1L-3).

    2. Preparations for the closure of correctional facilities located on the grounds of State parks and forests shall commence immediately. All inmates shall be transferred from these facilities to other suitable facilities.

    3. For four years following the effective date of this act, the Commissioner of Corrections shall submit to the Governor and the Legislature an annual report detailing the progress of the closures, the impact of the closures on the communities in which the facilities are located and on those to which the inmates will be transferred, the effect of the closures on inmates and on persons employed at the facilities, and such other matters as the commissioner deems relevant.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill prohibits the operation of juvenile and adult correctional facilities in State parks and forests. The Department of Corrections would have three years to phase out existing facilities in these areas.

    This bill reflects growing public concern for the security and health of residents who live near these facilities, especially those in proximity to the High Point Unit of the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility, a minimum security prison in High Point State Park. At this location, in early 1992, two escaped prisoners abducted an elderly Wantage couple and forced them at gunpoint to drive out of the area.

    Also, continuing effluent violations by the Annandale-High Point Facility Sewage Treatment Plant have raised concerns about the possible contamination of the region's ground water aquifer. Moreover, similar water pollution problems have been attributed to a malfunctioning sewage treatment plant at the satellite unit of the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility at Stokes State Forest in Montague.

Removes correctional facilities from State parks and forests within 3 years.