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S3671 • 2026

"Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.

"Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Bucco, Anthony M.
Last action
2026-02-24
Official status
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

"Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.

"Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.

What This Bill Does

  • "Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.
  • Topic: Law and Public Safety Fiscal note: This bill has been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-24 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee

Official Summary Text

"Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act"; establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder under certain circumstances.
Topic:
Law and Public Safety
Fiscal note:
This bill has been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
S3671

SENATE, No. 3671

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� �Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act�;
establishes offense of interfering with official duties of first responder
under certain circumstances.��

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning protections for first responders and
supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.�

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

���� 1.��� a.� This act shall be
known and may be cited as the �Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders
Act� or the �HALO Act.��

���� b.��� As used in this section:

���� �First responder� means a law
enforcement officer, paid or volunteer firefighter, or paid or volunteer member
of a duly incorporated first aid, emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad
association.�

���� c.���� A person is guilty of a
disorderly persons offense if, despite having received instruction from a first
responder acting in the performance of the first responder�s official duties to
maintain distance, the person knowingly approaches or remains within a distance
of less than 25 feet of the first responder
with the
purpose to:

���� (1)�� obstruct, impair, or
interfere with the performance of the first responder�s official duties; or�

���� (2)�� interfere with the first
responder�s performance of official duties by threatening, intimidating, or
harassing the first responder.�

���� d.��� This section shall not
preclude the prosecution and conviction of a person under any other applicable
provision of law.�

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.�

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes the
�Honoring and Listening to Our First Responders Act� or the �HALO Act.��

���� This bill provides that it is
a disorderly persons offense for a person to disregard a request from a first
responder to maintain distance and to knowingly approach or remain within 25
feet of the first responder with the purpose to:

�

obstruct, impair, or interfere with the first responder�s
performance of official duties; or

�

interfere with the first responder�s performance of official
duties by threatening, intimidating, or harassing the first responder.�

���� Under the bill, �first
responder� would include any law enforcement officer, paid or volunteer
firefighter, or paid or volunteer member of a duly incorporated first aid,
emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad association.�

���� A
disorderly persons offense is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to six
months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

���� The bill provides that
prosecution and conviction for an offense under the bill would not preclude the
prosecution and conviction of a person under any other applicable provision of
law.�