2A:162-26 Pretrial Services Program Review Commission.

20. a. There is hereby created, in but not of the Department of Law and Public Safety, a commission to be known as the Pretrial Services Program Review Commission, consisting of 17 members as follows: the Attorney General, or his designee; two members of the Senate, who shall each be of different political parties, appointed by the Senate President; two members of the General Assembly, who shall each be of different political parties, appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; the Administrative Director of the Courts, or his designee; two county prosecutors, appointed by the Governor based upon the recommendation of the County Prosecutors Association of the State of New Jersey; the Public Defender, or his designee; the following ex-officio public members: the President of the New Jersey State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the President of the Latino Action Network, the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, the New Jersey State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; and the following appointed public members: a county or municipal law enforcement officer appointed by the Governor, and two additional members having experience with, possessing a background in, or demonstrating a specialized knowledge of, the legal, policy, or social aspects of criminal justice pretrial release and detention programs, one appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate, and one appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly.

b. (1) The members' terms shall be as follows:

(a) The State and county ex-officio members shall serve during their elective or appointed term of office;

(b) The ex-officio public members shall serve during their term of office; and

(c) (i) The appointed public members shall each be appointed for a term of three years, except that of the two members with experience, background, or specialized knowledge of criminal justice pretrial release and detention programs first appointed, the member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly shall serve for a term of two years, and the member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Senate President shall serve for a term of three years.

(ii) Each member appointed shall hold office for the term of appointment and until a successor shall have been appointed and qualified.

(iii) Any vacancy in the appointed membership of the commission shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointment was made.

c. (1) The commission shall organize as soon as may be practicable upon the ex-officio designation and appointment of a majority of its authorized membership. The members shall elect one of the members to serve as chair, and one to serve as vice-chair, and the chair may appoint a secretary, who need not be a member of the commission.

(2) The commission shall meet at the call of the chair, or when requested by a majority of its members, at those times and places within the State of New Jersey as the chair shall determine. A majority of the commission's authorized membership shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business, including the adoption of any commission recommendations.

d. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be eligible for reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission for its purposes.

e. The Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law and Public Safety shall, at the direction of the Attorney General, provide legal, stenographic, technical, clerical, and other staff and resource assistance to the commission, and additionally the commission may incur expenses as may be necessary in order to perform its duties within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.

f. It shall be the duty of the commission to:

(1) Review the annual report of the Administrative Director of the Courts concerning the development and administration of the Statewide Pretrial Services Program that is submitted to the commission pursuant to subsection b. of section 17 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2B:1-11);

(2) Examine the existing law concerning pretrial release and detention established by sections 1 through 11 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2A:162-15 et seq.);

(3) Research criminal justice pretrial release and detention programs from other states and jurisdictions; and

(4) Make recommendations for legislation related to paragraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection.

g. The commission shall report annually to the Governor, to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and to the Supreme Court, its activities, as well as its findings and recommendations, if any, for legislation.

L.2014, c.31, s.20.