Author: kim@njac.org

COUNTIES TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BAIL REFORM

Posted on by kim@njac.org
by Katherine Landergan of Politico 10/04/2016 05:36 AM EDT A coalition of counties will take legal action against the state's sweeping bail reform policy, just months before the changes are set to go into effect. The New Jersey Association of Counties plans to file a complaint with a state board by mid-October, arguing that bail reform is inadequately funded. The state board, known as the Council on Local Mandates, has the power to strike down a law if it lacks the proper funding. Counties have until January to implement reforms that aim to substantially restrict cash bail in the state. ...
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State House News

Posted on by kim@njac.org
September 30, 2016 Criminal Justice Reform At its meeting on September 23rd, NJAC’s Board of Directors authorized the Association to file an action with the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates that certain provisions of the “Criminal Justice Reform Act” N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 et. seq. constitute an unfunded State mandate with the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates. The New Jersey Council on Local Mandates is responsible for resolving disputes on whether a law, rule, or regulation adopted after 1996 constitutes an unfunded mandate. In general, an unfunded mandate upon boards of education, mu...
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With Infrastructure Projects Sidelined, Who Pays for Broken Contracts?

Posted on by kim@njac.org
by Chase Brush for NJ Spotlight Counties and municipalities are coming under the gun for road and bridge projects Christie has shut down until cash is found for Transportation Trust Fund Credit: Jim Schacter / WNYC Growing concern over the cost of Gov. Chris Christie’s statewide shutdown of road and bridge projects until money can be found for the Transportation Trust Fund provided the impetus yesterday for an Assembly committee to pass a bill that would bring some relief to counties and municipalities suffering under the freeze. During the morning meeting of the Assembly Trans...
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NJ Bail Reform Goes Into Effect Jan.1

Posted on by kim@njac.org
by Michael Hill, Correspondent for NJTV Next year bail reform starts in New Jersey and today the state’s chief justice cited one reason why: 12 percent of the jail population are defendants charged with minor crimes but can’t afford to post bail of $2,500. For reformers, that’s a crime in itself. “We can also demonstrate that a system that relies upon resource for money bail disproportionately affects the poor and minorities,” said Glenn Grant, acting administrative director of New Jersey courts. After horror stories of inmates spending months and years in jail because of an inability to p...
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Traffic Signals: The Perfect Smart City Tool

Posted on by kim@njac.org
by Dave Bullock, Managing Director of ITS for Miovision View the entire newsletter for more articles:  2016 – NJAC County Biz – September At their most basic level, traffic signals are infrastructure assets that control vehicular and pedestrian traffic. But what if we could look at the humble traffic signal in a whole new way? What if we looked at this piece of infrastructure as the perfect foundation for a smart city? As the easiest and least expensive way to build a smart city? If you’re a transportation engineer, you have access to one of the most powerful data collection tools in your ...
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SUMMIT ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSIONS AND HEALTH BENEFITS

Posted on by kim@njac.org
REGISTER TODAY! Agenda Hosting Opportunities Registration  (please email your registration to kim@njac.org) Driving directions to the Trenton Country Club Please join the New Jersey Association of Counties on Friday, December 9th, to welcome State leaders who will be discussing the looming pension crisis and challenges in providing health benefits for New Jersey public employees.  The Summit takes place at the Trenton Country Club located at 201 Sullivan Way in West Trenton. This timely and informative Summit on Public Employee Pensions and Health Benefits consists of two panel dis...
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NJCJWA Annual Conference

Posted on by kim@njac.org
The New Jersey County Jail Wardens Association is holding its annual conference at Harrah's in Atlantic City, New Jersey from October 4th through October 6th.  Please visit http://www.njcjwa.org for more details on registration, hosting opportunities, hotel reservations, speakers, and seminars. NJCJWA's objective is to share information concerning the daily operations of county jails, present discussion topics of general interest to members of the Association, and present a united effort to obtain objectives voted on and approved by the membership.
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COANJ Annual Conference

Posted on by kim@njac.org
The Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey is holding its 40th annual conference at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, NJ starting September 27th through September 30th.  There's still time to register so please do so by visiting their website at www.coanj.com. COANJ is the organization of County Sheriffs, County Clerks, County Surrogates and County Registers of Deeds and Mortgages elected directly by the people of our respective Counties throughout the State of New Jersey. COANJ was organized in 1920 for the following purposes: To establish a cooperative effort among the S...
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State House News: September 2, 2016

Posted on by kim@njac.org
County Emergency Management On August 29th, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Senator Joseph Vitale (D-19) held a press conference at the State House with NJAC and county officials to unveil their plans to introduce legislation that would assist county offices of emergency management (OEM) prepare for natural disasters. In summary, the measure would create a program in the Department of Law and Public Safety to distribute aid annually to county OEMs based on a county’s risk exposure to natural disasters with each county receiving a minimum allotment. The program would allow counties ...
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