LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 1078
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
DATED: MAY 20, 2021
SUMMARY
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Synopsis: |
Requires domestic violence orders to be issued in other languages in addition to English under certain circumstances. |
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Type of Impact: |
Annual State expenditure increase. |
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Agencies Affected: |
The Judiciary. |
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Office of Legislative Services Estimate |
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Fiscal Impact |
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Annual |
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State Cost Increase |
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Indeterminate |
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· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) projects an indeterminate annual expenditure increase to the Judiciary. The bill requires that any temporary restraining order be issued in the primary language or languages used by both the plaintiff and the defendant, and that the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) is to prepare standard temporary restraining order forms in English, Spanish, and up to 10 additional languages commonly spoken in the State. Currently, the law requires domestic violence victim notices to be issued in English and Spanish and the statute does not specify whether restraining orders must be issued in a language other than English. The OLS lacks sufficient information such as the cost of translation services and the quantity of orders and notices to be issued under the provisions of this bill to quantify the fiscal impact. Furthermore, the primary language of the plaintiff and defendant cannot be known ahead of time.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill requires that certain domestic violence
restraining orders and notices to domestic violence victims be issued in languages
other than English. Under the bill, these notices and orders would be issued in
the primary language or languages used by both the plaintiff and the defendant
and up to ten additional languages. The AOC would prepare the forms in English,
Spanish, and up to ten additional languages commonly spoken in the State, for
use by the courts.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concludes the bill will result in an indeterminate annual expenditure increase to the Judiciary. The OLS lacks sufficient information on the cost of translation services and the quantity of orders and notices to which the bill applies to, to quantify these additional expenditures. In the 2019 court year, there were a total of 35,181 domestic violence filings and 10,728 reopened domestic violence cases, according to the 2018-2019 Judiciary Annual Report.
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Section: |
Judiciary |
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Analyst: |
Associate Fiscal Analyst |
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Approved: |
Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer |
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).