Bill > S3164

Introduced Session

This bill requires the State Treasurer to reimburse the county treasurer for defense costs and administrative expenses incurred by the county in defending civil actions brought against the Attorney General when the Attorney General serves as acting county prosecutor. Under current law, the Attorney General may supersede a county prosecutor when requested by the Governor, a grand jury, or the board of county commissioners. During the supersedure, a representative of the Attorney General's office acts as temporary county prosecutor for the purpose of prosecuting crimes in the county, intervening in investigations, criminal actions, or proceedings, and appearing in court. This bill is in response to a recent case involving an acting county prosecutor serving during supersedure. The acting county prosecutor was sued for discrimination by employees of the county prosecutor's office. The Attorney General refused to defend and indemnify the acting county prosecutor, who was an employee of the Office of the Attorney General and was asked to serve in the role. The Attorney General's refusal was upheld by the Appellate Division. The court held that the law requires the State to defend and indemnify an acting county prosecutor only if a lawsuit is based on law enforcement functions carried out by the acting prosecutor. However, the court ruled, if a lawsuit in question involves administrative functions and not law enforcement functions, as in this case, the State has no obligation to pay the costs of defending the suit. See In re Ruotolo, 2022 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 624 (App. Div. 2022), cert. den. Matter of Ruotolo, 252 N.J. 176 (2022). Under this bill, the State would be required to defend and indemnify an acting county prosecutor during supersedure in case of a lawsuit based on administrative functions as well.

AI Summary

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Nick Scutari (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document