SENATE, No. 764
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 15, 1996
By Senator CONNORS
An Act concerning certain motor vehicle fines, penalties and forfeitures and amending R.S.39:5-41.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.39:5-41 is amended to read as follows:
39:5-41 a. All fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected under authority of law for any violations of R.S.39:4-63 and R.S.39:4-64 shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid to the proper financial officer of the municipality wherein the violation occurred, to be used by the municipality to help finance litter control activities in addition to or supplementing existing litter pickup and removal activities in the municipality.
b. Except as otherwise provided by subsection a. of this section, all fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected under authority of law for any violations of the provisions of this Title, other than those violations in which the complainant is the director, a member of his staff, [a member of the State Police,]an inspector of the Board of Public Utilities, or a law enforcement officer of any other State agency, shall be forwarded by the judge to whom the same have been paid as follows: one-half of the total amount collected to the financial officer, as designated by the local governing body, of the respective municipalities wherein the violations occurred, to be used by the municipality for general municipal use and to defray the cost of operating the municipal court; and one-half of the total amount collected to the proper financial officer of the county wherein they were collected, to be used by the county as a fund for the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of roads and bridges, snow removal, the acquisition and purchase of rights-of-way, and the purchase, replacement and repair of equipment for use on said roads and bridges therein. Up to 25% of the money received by a municipality pursuant to this subsection, but not more than the actual amount budgeted for the municipal court, whichever is less, may be used to upgrade case processing.
c. For those fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected for violations in which the complainant is a member of the State Police, except as otherwise provided in subsection a. of this section, one-half of the money paid, shall, at the request of the municipality, be forwarded by the judge to whom the same has been paid, to the financial officer of the municipality to defray the cost of operating the municipal court.
Whenever any county has deposited moneys collected pursuant to this section in a special trust fund in lieu of expending the same for the purposes authorized by this section, it may withdraw from said special trust fund in any year an amount which is not in excess of the amount expended by the county over the immediately preceding three-year period from general county revenues for said purposes. Such moneys withdrawn from the trust fund shall be accounted for and used as are other general county revenues.
(cf: P.L.1993, c.293, s.5)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
In certain communities, especially those traversed by toll highways such as the Garden State Parkway, a high volume of summonses is issued by the State Police for violations of State traffic laws. These cases represent a major portion of the court calendars in these towns. At present, the State receives these fines, with the exception of court costs, when motorists receive convictions in these cases. Court costs that are now retained by local courts are often insufficient to offset their operating expenses.
This bill would allow municipal courts to retain 50 percent of revenues from fines, in which the complainant is a state trooper, to defray court costs.
Reallocates to local courts one-half of fines from traffic citations issued by State troopers.