Bill > A271

Introduced Session

This bill would designate the drug court program as the "special probation recovery court program" in the statutes. Under the drug court program, in lieu of incarceration a person may be sentenced to an intensive, five-year program of inpatient or outpatient substance abuse treatment, supervision, monitoring, and rehabilitation if the person's conviction is for a non-violent crime and the person is found to be dependent on drugs or alcohol and would benefit from treatment. The courts have described the drug court program as "a critical balance of authority, supervision, support and encouragement." In the view of the sponsor, the term "special probation recovery court program" more accurately describes the purposes and goals of the program, since the person's recovery is an essential component. The program is not focused on "drugs" as such, but instead consists of a comprehensive program of treatment and rehabilitation services. In the statutes, the program is set out in N.J.S.A.2C:35-14 et al. and is called "special probation." In accordance with the structure and goals of the program, this bill would change its statutory name to the "special probation recovery court program." In addition, the bill makes technical changes to the statutes' references to the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The statutes refer to the division as being "in the Department of Human Services." However, the division was moved to the Department of Health pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 001-2017. This bill corrects the statutory references accordingly, to refer to the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services in the Department of Health.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

John Armato (D)*,  Vincent Mazzeo (D)*,  Anthony Verrelli (D)*,  Annette Chaparro (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee (on 01/14/2020)

Official Document