Directs Attorney General to establish program for anonymous reporting of potential threats to school safety.

A2080

ASSEMBLY, No. 2080

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblywoman ROSAURA "ROSY" BAGOLIE

District 27 (Essex and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblymen McGuckin,
Venezia, Simonsen and Assemblywoman Fantasia

SYNOPSIS

���� Directs Attorney General to establish program for
anonymous reporting of potential threats to school safety.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning school safety threats and supplementing
chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

����� 1.�� The
Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, in consultation with the New
Jersey Education and Law Enforcement Working Group, shall establish a program
that provides the ability for the public to anonymously report information
concerning unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal
activities in schools or the threat of those activities.� The program shall:

����� a.�� establish
and maintain readily accessible methods of anonymous reporting, which may
include, but need not be limited to, a telephone tip line, that is staffed by
trained individuals at reasonable hours each day of the week, and a mobile
application;

����� b.�� allow
for any member of the public to report information, including students,
parents, school staff members, and other community members;

����� c.�� establish
methods and procedures to ensure that the identity of the reporting party
remains unknown to all persons and entities, except in instances where the
reporting party voluntarily discloses his identity and verifies that his
identity may be shared with law enforcement officers, school officials, and
employees operating the program;

����� d.�� promptly
forward information received by the program to the appropriate law enforcement
agencies or school officials;

����� e.�� provide
training to law enforcement dispatch centers, all public and nonpublic schools,
and other entities determined by the Attorney General on awareness of the
program and appropriate response to tips received through the program;

����� f.��� provide
proper guidelines for students regarding the procedures for anonymously
reporting information concerning potential threats to school safety; and

����� g.�� provide
program awareness and education materials to all public and nonpublic schools
in the State.

���� 2.��� a.�� The Attorney
General shall annually prepare a report on the program.� The report shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:

���� (1)�� the total number of
reports made to the program, disaggregated by subgroups to be determined by the
Attorney General;

���� (2)�� the dates, times, and
means of reporting;

���� (3)�� the total number of
instances of misuse of the program; and

���� (4)�� a summary of the
outcomes and actions taken on reports made to the program.

���� b.��� The Attorney General
shall submit the report to the Governor and the Education Committees of the
Senate and General Assembly and post the report on the Internet website of the
Department of Law and Public Safety by January 1 of the following year.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of
enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Education and Law
Enforcement Working Group, to establish a program that provides a means for the
public to anonymously report information concerning unsafe, potentially
harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal activities in schools or the threat of
those activities.� The program will allow students, parents, school staff, and
other community members to anonymously report information through readily
accessible methods such as a telephone tip line, that is staffed by trained
individuals at reasonable hours each day of the week, and a mobile
application.� The program is to ensure that the identity of the reporting party
remains unknown, except in instances where the reporting party voluntarily
discloses his or her identity and verifies that his or her identity may be
shared with law enforcement officers, school officials, and employees operating
the program.� The bill requires that information received through the program
be promptly shared with the appropriate law enforcement agencies or school
officials.�

���� Under the bill, training will
be provided to law enforcement dispatch centers, all public and nonpublic
schools, and other entities determined by the Attorney General on awareness of
the program and appropriate response to tips received through the program.�
Proper guidelines will be provided to students regarding the procedures for
reporting potential threats to school safety. �In addition, program awareness
and education materials will be provided to all public and nonpublic schools in
the State.� ������������ This bill also requires the Attorney General to
annually prepare a report on the program that includes the following: (1) the
total number of reports made to the program, disaggregated by subgroups to be
determined by the Attorney General; (2) the dates, times, and means of
reporting; (3) the total number of instances of misuse of the program; and (4)
a summary of the outcomes and actions taken on reports made to the program.�
The Attorney General is required to submit the report to the Governor and the
Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly and post the report on
the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety by January 1 of
the year immediately following issuance of the report.