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A4373
ASSEMBLY, No. 4373
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires immediate public reporting of bias incident;
facilitates receipt of information from public for purposes of prosecuting bias
incident.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning bias intimidation crimes and
supplementing P.L.2007, c.303.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� Within 24 hours of being
notified of a bias incident, the Attorney General shall make available to the
public on the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety, and
shall direct the prosecutor of the county in which the incident occurred to
make available to the public on the county prosecutor�s Internet website,
information regarding:
���� (1)�� the suspected bias
incident including, but not limited to, relevant facts and circumstances
related to the incident in order to obtain assistance from the public to
investigate and prosecute the incident; and
���� (2)�� how the public may
contact the Attorney General�s Office, the county prosecutor�s office, or the
local law enforcement agency to provide information related to the incident.
���� b.� Within 24 hours of being
notified of a bias incident, the chief law enforcement officer of the
municipality in which the bias incident occurred, or the Superintendent of
State Police if the incident occurred in a municipality that does not have a
full-time police department, shall make information available to the public on the
Internet website of the municipality and the local law enforcement agency or
New Jersey State Police, as appropriate, regarding:
���� (1)�� the suspected bias
incident including, but not limited to, relevant facts and circumstances
related to the incident in order to obtain assistance from the public to
investigate and prosecute the incident; and
���� (2)�� how the public may
contact the Attorney General�s Office, county prosecutor�s office, or local law
enforcement agency to provide information related to the incident.���������
���� c.���� The Attorney General,
county prosecutor, and chief law enforcement officer or Superintendent of State
Police, as appropriate, shall provide updated information on the appropriate
Internet website regarding the final disposition of the bias incident
investigation.
���� As used in this section, �bias
incident� means a suspected or confirmed violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of
subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:16-1.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires the
immediate public reporting of any bias incident in this State and facilitates
the receipt of information from the public for the purposes of investigating
and prosecuting a bias incident.
���� Bias incidents have increased
throughout the State and the nation, causing fear, tension, and uncertainty in
our communities. New Jersey experienced a 29 percent increase in bias incidents
between 2020 and 2021.� According to data released by the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL), anti-Semitic incidents in 2021 rose by 25 percent in New Jersey
reaching 370 total incidents, which is the highest number ever recorded by the
ADL in the State and the second-highest number recorded in any state in the
country. �According to State data regarding bias intimidation crimes, anti-Black
bias remained the number-one motivating factor in reported incidents in both
2020 and 2021, with anti-Semitic bias being the second-largest contributor.� New
Jersey�s LGBTQ+ community experienced a significant increase in bias incidents
over that same period, and anti-Asian incidents rose sharply from 69 in 2020 to
129 in 2021.�
���� Two bias incidents were recently
reported in the State against the Jewish community in April 2022.� A man was
accused of attacking several members of the Orthodox Jewish community in both
Lakewood and Jackson, and is now facing federal hate crime charges.� In
addition, an historically Jewish fraternity at Rutgers University was the
target of multiple cases of anti-Semitic harassment, prompting an increase in campus
security.
���� Under current law, municipal
and county law enforcement agencies are required to submit quarterly reports to
the Attorney General, which include information regarding crimes committed
within their respective jurisdictions.� These reports are required to include
information relating to a bias incident, which is defined under current law to
mean any suspected or confirmed offense directed against a person or group or
their property, by reason of their race, color, religion, gender, disability,
sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or
ethnicity.� The Attorney General is required to issue an annual report
containing the results of the information reflected in these quarterly reports.
���� Under the bill, information is
required to be made public within 24 hours of the bias incident.� Specifically,
the bill requires the Attorney General to make available to the public on the
Department of Law and Public Safety website, and to direct the prosecutor of
the county in which the incident occurred to make available on the county
prosecutor�s website, information regarding: the suspected bias incident,
including relevant facts and circumstances related to the incident in order to
obtain assistance from the public to investigate and prosecute the incident;
and how the public may contact the Attorney General�s Office, the county
prosecutor�s office, or the local law enforcement agency to provide information
related to the incident.
���� The bill also requires the chief
law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the bias incident
occurred, or the Superintendent of State Police if the incident occurred in a
municipality that does not have a full-time police department, to make this information
available to the public within 24 hours of being notified of the bias incident.�
���� In addition, the bill requires
the Attorney General, county prosecutor, and chief law enforcement officer or Superintendent
of State Police, as appropriate, to provide updated information regarding the
final disposition of the bias incident investigation.