Expands "Body Armor Replacement Fund" eligibility.

S3673

SENATE, No. 3673

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Expands �Body Armor Replacement Fund� eligibility.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning eligibility for �Body Armor Replacement
Fund� grants and amending P.L.1997, c.177.

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

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1997,
c.177 (C.52:17B-4.4) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� There is created in the
Department of Law and Public Safety a nonlapsing revolving fund to be known as
the "Body Armor Replacement" fund.� This fund shall be the repository
for moneys provided pursuant to subsection d. of R.S.39:5-41 and shall be
administered by the Attorney General.� Moneys deposited in the fund, and any
interest earned thereon, shall be used exclusively for the purpose of making
grants to local law enforcement agencies, the Division of State Police, the
Division of Criminal Justice, the Administrative Office of the Courts
,

and the Department of Corrections for the purchase of body vests for the law
enforcement officers, investigators, probation officers and corrections
officers of those agencies
, and any other State department or agency that
appoints law enforcement officers
.� Of the moneys deposited into the fund,
an amount not to exceed $75,000 shall be allocated annually to the Department
of Law and Public Safety exclusively for the administration of the grant
program.

���� The grant program shall be
designed to effectuate a five-year vest replacement cycle, to the extent
practicable, for local law enforcement officers, the officers and troopers of
the State Police, investigators in the Division of Criminal Justice and State
corrections,
and any other law enforcement officers appointed by a State
department or agency,
and probation officers.� The Attorney General shall
provide for the distribution of the initial grants in a manner which is
conducive to establishing a balance among the number of local law enforcement
officers who are eligible for vest replacement grants in each year of the
five-year cycle.� In the same manner and to the greatest extent practicable,
the Attorney General shall establish a grant distribution schedule for the officers
and troopers of the State Police and investigators in the Division of Criminal
Justice that provides for a balance among the number of officers, troopers and
investigators receiving vest replacements in each year of the five-year cycle.�
In establishing a distribution schedule for State corrections and probation
officers, the Attorney General shall give first priority to those State
corrections officers assigned inmate supervision and control responsibilities
in the State's maximum security correctional facilities and second priority to
those officers assigned inmate supervision and control responsibilities in the
State's medium security correctional facilities.� The distribution schedule for
State corrections and probation officers shall be based on a five-year cycle,
but need not provide for a balance among the number of officers receiving vests
in each year of the five-year cycle.� The number of probation officers, the
replacement of whose vests shall be funded from grants under this section, shall
not exceed 200.

���� The Attorney General shall
promulgate rules and regulations to implement this grant program.� Those rules
and regulations shall include, but not be limited to application procedures for
local law enforcement agencies seeking vest replacement grants; criteria, such
as crime rates and the age and condition of the body vests currently utilized
by a local law enforcement agency's officers, to prioritize the awarding of
grants; and guidelines identifying those body vests, by manufacturer or brand
name, which may be purchased with grant moneys.�

���� As used in this section:

���� "Body vest" means
bullet resistant body armor which is intended to provide ballistic and trauma
protection; and

���� "Probation officer"
means a probation officer whose daily duties expose the officer to a
substantial risk of assault by deadly weapon.

����
�Law enforcement officer�
means a person who is empowered to act for the detection, apprehension, arrest,
conviction, detention, or rehabilitation of persons in violation of the law.

(cf: P.L.1999, c.360, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the sixth month next following enactment, except
that the Attorney General may take any anticipatory administrative action in
advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill expands the
eligibility criteria for recipients of grants provided by the �Body Armor
Replacement� fund.

���� Currently, local law
enforcement agencies, the Division of State Police, the Division of Criminal
Justice, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Department of
Corrections are entitled to grants from the �Body Armor Replacement� fund.�
This bill would permit the Attorney General to administer grants to any other
State agency or department that appoints law enforcement officers, such as the
Department of Environmental Protection, which could then procure body vests for
conservation officers and State Park Police officers.

���� The bill also defines �law
enforcement officer� for the purpose of determining eligibility to receive
grant funding.