Bill > S3793

Introduced Session

This bill supplements the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations act to provide $750,000 in supplemental funding to the Office of the Public Defender's (OPD) Trial Services to Indigents program. The OPD is in-but-not-of the Department of Treasury. More specifically, the funding will provide for eight additional attorneys dedicated to juvenile post-dispositional work and juvenile caseload reduction in some of the highest volume regions, namely, Essex and Atlantic counties. According to the OPD, youth custodial sentences are on the rise. In 2022, New Jersey had 277 youth in custody. As of April 4, 2024, there were 339. The OPD notes that the length of stay is also on the rise. For example, in Atlantic County, the length of a custodial sentence for a juvenile has increased by 359 percent between 2022 and 2024. The OPD estimates a 25-30 percent increase in youth defense caseloads in the next fiscal year. P.L.2021, c.383 expanded the mandate of the OPD to require representation of juvenile defendants, many of whom are on the cusp of reentering society as adults. This has resulted in an increase in juvenile cases for the OPD.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

John McKeon (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee (on 10/10/2024)

Official Document