ASSEMBLY, No. 863

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  NICHOLAS CHIARAVALLOTI

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

     Requires AG to report bias intimidation offenses to Federal Bureau of Investigation for inclusion in annual report on hate crime statistics.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning bias intimidation offenses and amending P.L.1966, c.37.

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

     1.    Section 5 of P.L.1966, c.37 (C.52:17B-5.5) is amended to read as follows:

     5.    a.  The Attorney General shall render an annual report of the results of the information gathered and collated to the Governor and the Legislature.

     b.    The Attorney General shall submit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for inclusion in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual report on hate crime statistics the portion of the State's annual report containing information relating to any offense directed against a person or group, or their property, by reason of their race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity gathered pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1966, c.37 (C.52:17B-5.3).

(cf:  P.L.1966, c.37, s.5)

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     This bill requires the Attorney General to report bias intimidation offenses to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in the FBI's annual report on hate crime statistics.

     Under current law, municipal and county law enforcement agencies are required to include information regarding bias crimes in their quarterly reports of crime submitted to the Attorney General.  The Attorney General is to issue an annual report containing the results.

     Under the provisions of this bill, the Attorney General is required to submit to the FBI for inclusion in the FBI's annual report on hate crime statistics the portion of the State's annual report containing information relating to any offense directed against a person or group, or their property, by reason of their race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity which is gathered under current law.