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S3487
SENATE, No. 3487
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes Department of State Police as principal
department in executive branch of State government.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning the Division of State Police and amending, supplementing,
and repealing various parts of the statutory law.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 3 of P.L.1948,
c.439 (C.52:17B-3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 3.� There is hereby
established in the Department of Law and Public Safety a Division of Law,
[
a Division of
State Police,
]
a Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
[
a
Division of Motor Vehicles,
]
a Division of Weights and Measures and a Division of Professional Boards.
���� The Attorney General shall
have the authority to organize and maintain in his offices an Administrative
Division and to assign to employment therein such secretarial, clerical and
other assistants in the department as his office and the internal operations of
the department shall require.
(cf:� P.L.1948, c.439, s.3)
���� 2.��� Section 51 of P.L.1948,
c.439 (C.52:17B-51) is amended to read as follows:
���� 51.� Whenever the term
"Attorney-General" occurs or any reference is made thereto in any
law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to the
Attorney General designated herein as the head of the Department of Law and Public
Safety established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"Department of Law" occurs or any reference is made thereto in any
law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to the
Division of Law established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term "deputy
Attorney-General" occurs or any reference is made thereto in any law,
contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to a deputy
Attorney-General employed in the Division of Law established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"assistant deputy Attorney-General" occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to an assistant deputy Attorney-General employed in the Division of Law
established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term "member
of the Department of Law"� occurs or any reference is made thereto in any
law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to a
member of the Division of Law established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control" occurs or any reference is
made thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean
or refer to the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term "State
Commissioner of Alcoholic Beverage Control" occurs or any reference is
made thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean
or refer to the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"Department of Motor Vehicles"� occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to the Division of Motor Vehicles established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"Commissioner of Motor Vehicles" occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles established hereunder.
����
[
Whenever the term
"Department of State Police" occurs or any reference is made thereto
in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or refer to
the Division of State Police established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term
"Superintendent of State Police" occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to the Superintendent of State Police designated as the head of the
Division of State Police established hereunder.
]
���� Whenever the term
"Department of Weights and Measures" occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to the Division of Weights and Measures established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term "State
Superintendent of Weights and Measures" occurs or any reference is made
thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be deemed to mean or
refer to the Superintendent of the Division of Weights and Measures designated
as the head of the Division of Weights and Measures established hereunder.
���� Whenever the term "Board
of Tenement House Supervision of the State of New Jersey" occurs or any
reference is made thereto in any law, contract or document, the same shall be
deemed to mean or refer to the Board of Tenement House Supervision of the State
of New Jersey constituted the Bureau of Tenement House Supervision in the
Division of State Police established hereunder.
(cf:� P.L.1948, c.439, s.51)
���� 3.��� R.S.53:1-1 is amended to
read as follows:
���� 53:1-1.�
[
The department
of state police, created and established by an act entitled "An act
creating a department of state police, providing for the appointment of a
superintendent thereof, together with the officers and men who shall constitute
the force, defining their powers and duties, and making an appropriation for
the expenses connected therewith," passed March twenty-ninth, one thousand
nine hundred and twenty-one (L.1921, c. 102, p. 167), as amended and
supplemented, is continued. The executive and administrative head of such
department shall be a superintendent of state police.
]
The Division of State Police,
together with all of its functions, powers, and duties is continued, but the
division is transferred to and constituted the Department of State Police,
which is established as a principal department in the executive branch of the
State government.
����
The transfer directed by
this section shall be made in accordance with the "State Agency Transfer
Act," P.L.1971, c.375 (C.52:14D-1 et seq.).
(cf:� R.S.53:1-1)
���� 4.��� R.S.53:1-2 is amended to
read as follows:
���� 53:1-2.�
[
The
Superintendent of State Police, hereinafter referred to as the superintendent,
shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate,
shall serve during the term of office of the Governor appointing him and until
the superintendent's successor is appointed and has qualified and shall be
removable by the Governor after charges have been preferred and a� hearing
granted.
���� The superintendent shall
receive such salary as shall be provided by law, and shall, before entering
upon the duties of his office, give a bond to the State of New Jersey in the
sum of $20,000.00 for the faithful performance of his duties.
]
The
executive and administrative head of the Department of State Police shall be
the Superintendent of State Police, who shall be a person qualified by training
and experience with the Department of State Police or its predecessor, the
Division of State Police, to direct the work of the department. �The
Superintendent of State Police shall be appointed by the Governor, with the
advice and consent of the Senate, and shall serve during the term of office of
the Governor appointing the superintendent and until the superintendent's
successor is appointed and has qualified; provided, however, that the person in
office as the superintendent on the effective date of P.L.��� , c.��� (pending
before the Legislature as this bill) shall hold the office of Superintendent of
State Police in the Department of State Police for the unexpired period of the
term for which the superintendent was appointed, and until the superintendent�s
successor is appointed and qualifies.� The Superintendent of State Police shall
receive a salary as shall be provided by law and shall devote the
superintendent�s entire time and attention to the duties of the office.� The
superintendent may be removed from office by the Governor, for cause, upon
notice and opportunity to be heard.
(cf:� P.L.1971, c.105, s.2)
���� 5.��� (New section) The
functions, powers, and duties of the Superintendent of State Police in the
existing Division of State Police are continued, but the functions, powers, and
duties are transferred to and vested in the Superintendent of State Police
designated as the executive and administrative head of the Department of State
Police, and shall be exercised and performed by the superintendent through the
department.� Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, the
Superintendent of State Police shall be designated as the State Director of
Emergency Management.
���� 6.��� (New section) a.� Except
as otherwise provided, or as may be changed pursuant to authorization provided
under any law, the organization of the existing Division of State Police is
continued as the organization of the Department of State Police.� Any personnel
change made within the Department of State Police shall be subject only to the
approval of the Superintendent of State Police.� The approval of the Attorney
General shall not be required.
���� b.��� Whenever, in any law,
contract, or document, reference is made to the term �Division of State
Police,� that term shall mean the Department of State Police.
���� Whenever, in any law,
contract, or document, reference is made to the term "Superintendent of State
Police," that term shall mean the Superintendent of State Police
designated as the head of the Department of State Police.
���� 7.��� (New section) The
provisions of P.L.2009, c.121 (C.52:17B-222 et seq.) applicable to the Division
of State Police shall apply to the Department of State Police established
pursuant to P.L.��� c.��� (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� 8.��� Sections 6 through 9 of
P.L.1948, c.439 (C.52:17B-6 through C.52:17B-9) are repealed.
���� 9.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes the
Department of State Police as a principal department in the executive branch of
State government.
���� Under current law, the
Division of State Police is situated in the Department of Law and Public
Safety, which is headed by the Attorney General.
���� Under the provisions of this
bill, the Division of State Police is transferred to and constituted as the
Department of State Police, which is established as a principal department in
the executive branch of State government.� The Superintendent of State Police
is established as the head of the Department of State Police.
���� The bill provides that the Superintendent
of State Police is to be designated as the State Director of Emergency
Management and that any personnel change made within the Department of State
Police is subject only to the approval of the Superintendent of State Police.�
The approval of the Attorney General is not required.� Currently, the Office of
Emergency Management is allocated within the Division of State Police, with the
superintendent serving as the Director of Emergency Management.
���� Finally, the bill clarifies
that the oversight and monitoring of the current Division of State Police
performed by the Office of Law Enforcement Professional Standards under current
law would apply to the Department of State Police established under this bill.�