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A1392
ASSEMBLY, No. 1392
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Bagolie and Flynn
SYNOPSIS
���� Directs Office of Public Defender to provide legal
representation for certain criminal contempt violations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning representation by the Office of the Public
Defender in certain domestic violence contempt violation cases and
supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� The Public Defender shall,
in the manner prescribed by P.L.1967, c.43 (C. 2A:158A-1 et seq.), provide representation
to any indigent defendant charged under subsection b. of
N.J.S.2C:29-9 with contempt for the violation of an order entered pursuant to
the provisions of the �Prevention of Domestic violence Act of 1991, c.261
(C.2C:25-17 et seq.).�
���� Orders entered pursuant to
paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (8), and (9) of subsection b. of section 13 of
P.L.1991, c.261 (C.2C:25-29) or substantially similar orders entered under the
laws of another state or the United States shall be excluded from the
provisions of this section.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would expand the
duties of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to include providing legal
representation for indigent defendants charged with certain contempt violations
for certain domestic violence orders.
���� Under current law, the OPD is
charged with providing legal representation to any indigent defendant charged
with committing an indictable offense, and any person charged with a disorderly
persons offense or with the violation of any law, ordinance or regulation of a
penal nature where there is a likelihood that the persons charged, if
convicted, will be subject to imprisonment or any other consequence of
magnitude.� A person charged with contempt under N.J.S.A.2C:29-9 for violating any
provision in an order entered under the provisions of the "Prevention of
Domestic Violence Act of 1991," P.L.1991, c.261 (C.2C:25-17 et al.) or an
order entered under a substantially similar law of another state, could be
convicted of a crime of the fourth degree, or a disorderly persons offense,
which could result in imprisonment, or other �consequence of magnitude.�
���� This bill would direct the OPD
to provide representation to any indigent defendant charged with a violation of
the contempt statute for certain domestic violence order violations.�
���� Currently, certain domestic
violence orders do not subject a violator to a charge of contempt, which
include orders relating to parenting time, orders requiring the defendant to
pay to the victim monetary compensation for losses suffered as a direct result
of the act of domestic violence, order requiring the defendant to receive
professional domestic violence counseling, and orders requiring that the
defendant make or continue to make rent or mortgage payments on the residence.�
Under this bill, a violation of these orders will not entitle a person to
representation by the Public Defender.
���� This bill would implement
recommendation 29 of the report of the Reconvened Joint Committee on Criminal
Justice issued in June 2023.