SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 426

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY 10, 1997

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 426 (1R) of 1996.

      Senate Bill No. 426 (1R) requires the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections to report to the Attorney General on any parolee from another state that is deemed eligible to reside in this State pursuant to the Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Out-of-State Parolees and Probationers as set forth in N.J.S.2A:168-14 et seq.. The commissioner cannot grant permission for the transfer of that parolee to New Jersey until the report is approved by the Attorney General.

      Under current law, if a probationer or parolee from another state requests permission to relocate to New Jersey pursuant to the terms of the interstate compact, the Commissioner of Corrections will review the request and determine if the probationer or parolee is eligible to reside in New Jersey. The probationer or parolee would be eligible if the person was a resident in New Jersey before being convicted in another state or has a family residing in New Jersey and can obtain employment here. The commissioner, in his discretion, can also grant permission to any probationer or parolee who was not a resident and does not have family here. A state may investigate the home and prospective employer of such a person before granting permission. The Attorney General's approval is not required under current law.

      All fifty states and Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands are signatories to this compact. New Jersey has been a signatory since 1953.

FISCAL IMPACT

      This bill has not been certified for a fiscal note since it will not have an impact on State revenues or expenditures.