SENATE, No. 70

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Senators CASEY and KOSCO

 

 

An Act concerning the appointment of certain law enforcement officers and amending P.L.1991, c.299.

 

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

 

    1. Section 1 of P.L.1991, c.299 (C.40A:14-180) is amended to read as follows:

    1. a. The provisions of any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the appointing authority of a county or municipality which, pursuant to N.J.S.40A:14-106, in the case of a county, or N.J.S.40A:14-118, in the case of a municipality, has established and maintains a police force may appoint as a member or officer of the county or municipal police department any person who:

    (1) was serving as a law enforcement officer in good standing in any State, county or municipal law enforcement department or agency; and

    (2) satisfactorily completed a working test period in a State law enforcement title or in a law enforcement title in a county or municipality which has adopted Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes or satisfactorily completed a comparable, documented probationary period in a law enforcement title in a county or municipality which has not adopted Title 11A, Civil Service; and

    (3) was, for reasons of economy, terminated as a law enforcement officer within [36] 60 months prior to the appointment.

    b. A county or municipality may employ such a person notwithstanding that:

    (1) Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes is operative in that county or municipality;

    (2) the county or municipality has available to it an eligible or regular reemployment list of persons eligible for such appointments; and

    (3) the appointed person is not on any eligible list. A county or municipality which has adopted Title 11A, Civil Service, may not employ such a person if a special reemployment list is in existence for the law enforcement title to be filled.

    c. If a county determines to appoint a person pursuant to the provisions of this act, it shall give first priority in making such appointments to residents of the county. A municipality making such an appointment shall give first priority to residents of the municipality and second priority to residents of the county not residing in the municipality.

    d. The seniority, seniority-related privileges and rank a law enforcement officer possessed with the employer who terminated the officer's employment for reasons of economy shall not be transferable to a new position when the officer is appointed to a law enforcement position pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.187, s.1)

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would increase from 36 to 60 months the period during which laid-off law enforcement officers are eligible, and accorded preference, for reemployment appointments under the State's special statewide law enforcement program.

    Under current law (P.L.1991, c.299; C.40A:14-180), the names of qualified law enforcement officers who are laid-off for reasons of economy are placed on a "Special Statewide Law Enforcement Reemployment List" and circulated to local governmental appointing authority by the Department of Personnel. This priority hiring program benefits both local governmental units seeking to employ trained and experienced law enforcement officers and qualified officers seeking reemployment.

    One of the program's statutory qualifications is that law enforcement officers are only eligible during the initial 36 months following the official date of their lay-off. There are a number of highly trained and qualified law enforcement officers who will be dropped from the program because they have been unable, through no fault of their own, to secure reemployment within that arbitrary 36 month period. The purpose of this bill is to assist those officers by extending eligibility period to 60 months.


 

Authorizes hiring of certain law enforcement officers by counties and municipalities.