Imposes mandatory forfeiture of public office, position or employment upon conviction of certain offenses.

A4170

ASSEMBLY, No. 4170

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

SYNOPSIS

���� Imposes mandatory forfeiture of public office,
position or employment upon conviction of certain offenses.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning the forfeiture of public office and amending

N.J.S.2C:51-2.

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

���� 1.��� N.J.S.2C:51-2 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 2C:51-2.���� Forfeiture of
Public Office, Position, or Employment.

���� a.���� A person holding any
public office, position, or employment, elective or appointive, under the
government of this State or any agency or political subdivision thereof, who is
convicted of an offense shall forfeit such office, position or employment if:

���� (1)�� He is convicted under
the laws of this State of an offense involving dishonesty or of a crime of the
third degree or above or under the laws of another state or of the United
States of an offense or a crime which, if committed in this State, would be such
an offense or crime;

���� (2)�� He is convicted of an
offense involving or touching such office, position or employment; or

���� (3)�� The Constitution so
provides.

���� As used in this subsection, �involving
or touching such office, position or employment� means that the offense was
related directly to the person's performance in, or circumstances flowing from,
the specific public office, position or employment held by the person.
In
determining whether the offense was so related, the court shall assess the
identity of the victim, and shall assess the qualifications required of the
specific public office, position or employment.� The court may make a
determination that an offense was related directly to the person's performance
in, or circumstances flowing from, the specific public office, position or
employment held by the person notwithstanding the fact that the offense did not
take place during employment hours or on employment grounds.

���� �b.�� A court of this State
shall enter an order of forfeiture pursuant to subsection a.:

���� (1)�� Immediately upon a
finding of guilt by the trier of fact or a plea of guilty entered in any court
of this State unless the court, for good cause shown, orders a stay of such
forfeiture pending a hearing on the merits at the time of sentencing; or

���� (2)�� Upon application of the
county prosecutor or the Attorney General, when the forfeiture is based upon a
conviction of an offense under the laws of another state or of the United States.� An order of forfeiture pursuant to this paragraph shall be deemed to have
taken effect on the date the person was found guilty by the trier of fact or
pled guilty to the offense.

���� c.���� No court shall grant a
stay of an order of forfeiture pending appeal of a conviction or forfeiture
order unless the court is clearly convinced that there is a substantial
likelihood of success on the merits.� If the conviction be reversed or the
order of forfeiture be overturned, he shall be restored, if feasible, to his
office, position or employment with all the rights, emoluments and salary
thereof from the date of forfeiture.

���� Any official action taken by
the convicted person on or after the date as of which a forfeiture of the
person's office shall take effect shall, during a period of 60 days following
the date on which an order of forfeiture shall have been issued hereunder, be
voidable by the person's successor in office or, if the office of the person
was that of member of the governing body of a county, municipality or
independent authority, by that governing body.

���� d.��� In addition to the
punishment prescribed for the offense, and the forfeiture set forth in
subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:51-2, any person convicted of an offense involving or
touching on his public office, position or employment shall be forever
disqualified from holding any office or position of honor, trust or profit
under this State or any of its administrative or political subdivisions.� As
used in this subsection, �involving or touching on his public office, position
or employment� means that the offense was related directly to the person's
performance in, or circumstances flowing from, the specific public office,
position or employment held by the person.
In determining whether the
offense was so related, the court shall assess the gravity of the offense as
revealed by its nature, its context, and the identity of the victim, and shall
assess the qualifications required of the specific public office, position or
employment.� The court may make a determination that an offense was related
directly to the person's performance in, or circumstances flowing from, the
specific public office, position or employment held by the person
notwithstanding the fact that the offense did not take place during employment
hours or on employment grounds
.

���� e.���� Any forfeiture or
disqualification under subsection a., b. or d. which is based upon a conviction
of a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense may be waived by
the court upon application of the county prosecutor or the Attorney General and
for good cause shown.

���� f.���� Except as may otherwise
be ordered by the Attorney General as the public need may require, any person
convicted of an offense under section 97 of P.L.1999, c.440 (C.2C:21-34),
N.J.S.2C:27-2, N.J.S.2C:27-3, N.J.S.2C:27-5, section 100 of P.L.1999, c. 440 (C.2C:27-9),
section 5 of P.L.2003, c.255 (C.2C:27-10), section 6 of P.L.2003, c.255
(C.2C:27-11), N.J.S.2C:29-4, N.J.S.2C:30-2, or N.J.S.2C:30-3 of this Title
shall be ineligible, either directly or indirectly, to submit a bid, enter into
any contract, or to conduct any business with any board, agency, authority,
department, commission, public corporation, or other body of this State, of
this or one or more other states, or of one or more political subdivisions of
this State for a period of, but not more than, 10 years from the date of
conviction for a crime of the second degree, or five years from the date of
conviction for a crime of the third degree.� It is the purpose of this
subsection to bar any individual convicted of any of the above enumerated offenses
and any business, including any corporation, partnership, association or
proprietorship in which such individual is a principal, or with respect to
which such individual owns, directly or indirectly, or controls 5% or more of
the stock or other equity interest of such business, from conducting business
with public entities.

���� The State Treasurer shall keep
and maintain a list of all corporations barred from conducting such business
pursuant to this section.

���� g.��� In any case in which the
issue of forfeiture is not raised in a court of this State at the time of a
finding of guilt, entry of guilty plea or sentencing, a forfeiture of public
office, position or employment required by this section may be ordered by a court
of this State upon application of the county prosecutor or the Attorney General
or upon application of the public officer or public entity having authority to
remove the person convicted from his public office, position or employment.�
The fact that a court has declined to order forfeiture shall not preclude the
public officer or public entity having authority to remove the person convicted
from seeking to remove or suspend the person from his office, position or
employment on the ground that the conduct giving rise to the conviction
demonstrates that the person is unfit to hold the office, position or
employment.

(cf: P.L.2007, c.49, s.5)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the 60
th
day following enactment and shall apply to
offenses committed on or after the effective date.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would require that
persons convicted of certain offenses forfeit their public office, position or
employment.� These persons would also be permanently barred from holding public
office, position or employment in the future.

���� Under current law, set out in
N.J.S.2C:51-2, a person must forfeit his public office, position or employment
and be barred from holding any future office or position of honor, trust or
profit under this State or any of its administrative or political subdivisions
if, among other grounds, the person is convicted of an offense involving or
touching on the office, position or employment.� The statute provides that the
phrase �involving or touching on his public office, position or employment�
means that �the offense was related directly to the person's performance in, or
circumstances flowing from, the specific public office, position or employment
held by the person.�� This definition was added to the statute by P.L.2007,
c.49, which increased the penalties for public corruption crimes.� As noted in
that bill statement, the definition was in accordance with a ruling by the New
Jersey Supreme Court,
McCann
v.
Clerk of the City of Jersey City
,
167 N.J. 311 (2001), that interpreted the �involving or touching� language in
N.J.S.2C:51-2.

���� However, it is the view of the
sponsor that the definition in
McCann
and in the 2007 enactment is not
expansive enough and does not encompass certain situations where public
employees� abuse of the public trust should warrant their dismissal from
employment.� For example, in
State
v.
Hupka
, 203
N.J.
222
(2010), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that forfeiture of office and
disqualification from future public employment were not warranted in a case
where a sheriff�s officer, who also worked part-time as a police officer, pled
guilty to criminal sexual contact, a crime of the fourth degree.� He had
originally been indicted for aggravated sexual assault, a crime of the first
degree, and sexual assault, a crime of the second degree, after a female friend
alleged that he had sexually assaulted her in her apartment.� (A crime of the
fourth degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months or a
fine of up to $10,000, or both; a crime of the second degree, by a term of five
to 10 years or a fine of up to $150,000, or both; and a crime of the first
degree, by a term of 10 to 20 years or a fine of up to $200,000 or both.)

���� In a 3-2 decision, the Supreme
Court held that Mr. Hupka�s conviction was not sufficiently related to his
position as a law enforcement officer to trigger the forfeiture and
disqualification provisions of the statute, because he was off-duty at the time
of the incident, in a private home with a person that he knew.� In a dissenting
opinion, Chief Justice Rabner wrote that, in his view, Mr. Hupka�s actions did
warrant forfeiture and disqualification, as they directly related to his
performance as a law enforcement official.

���� The Chief Justice wrote that
the decision in an older Supreme Court case,
Moore
v.
Youth
Correctional Institute
, 119
N.J.
256 (1990), set out the appropriate
standards for review.� In that decision, the court held that in determining
whether an offense involves and touches on employment, �there is a need to
assess the gravity of the crime as revealed by its nature, its context, and the
identity of the victim � [and] � to assess the qualifications required of the
employee�s public employment.�

���� This bill would add the
language in
Moore
to the provisions of N.J.S.2C:51-2.� Under the bill,
the �involving or touching on his public office, position or employment�
definition would include the following new language: �In determining whether
the offense was so related, the court shall assess the gravity of the offense
as revealed by its nature, its context, and the identity of the victim, and
shall assess the qualifications required of the specific public office, position
or employment.�� In addition, the bill specifies that the court may make a
determination that an offense was related directly to the person's performance
in, or circumstances flowing from, the specific public office, position or
employment held by the person notwithstanding the fact that the offense did not
take place during employment hours or on employment grounds.�