LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1802

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

DATED: DECEMBER 26, 2025

SUMMARY

Synopsis:	Requires law enforcement officer to conduct risk assessment of and provide assistance to domestic violence victims.
Type of Impact:	Annual State and local government expenditure increases
Agencies Affected:	Department of Law and Public Safety; Administrative Office of Courts; State, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies.

Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact
Annual State Expenditure Increases	Indeterminate
Annual Local Expenditure Increases	Indeterminate

· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) anticipates that this bill will lead to an indeterminate increase in annual expenditures to the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop and implement training on domestic violence risk assessments and to the Department of Law and Public Safety to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment tools.

· Statewide law enforcement agencies may incur ongoing indeterminate costs to train officers in the use of the new assessment instrument. Moreover, conducting these risk assessments and facilitating immediate access to services for victims of domestic violence may increase officer response times, which may result in increased labor or administrative costs to State and local law enforcement agencies.

BILL DESCRIPTION

      This bill requires law enforcement officers to conduct a risk assessment of and provide assistance to domestic violence victims.

      Under current law, pursuant to Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2016-6 v3.0, law enforcement officers are required to administer a domestic violence risk assessment tool to assist in identifying the risk of future assaults against intimate partners. The Division of Criminal Justice within the Office of the Attorney General has designated the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) as the domestic violence risk assessment instrument to be used by law enforcement officers in this State.

      This bill requires a law enforcement officer to conduct the ODARA, or an alternative approved risk assessment, of any person who the officer has reasonable cause to believe is a victim of domestic violence. The risk assessment is to be conducted with the consent of the alleged victim. Regardless of the risk assessment score, a law enforcement officer is required to determine if the victim is in immediate need of services, and the officer is required to facilitate the provision of these services.

      The Division of Criminal Justice is required to evaluate training related to ODARA, in addition to other domestic violence training already required by statute. In the event an alternative assessment instrument is approved in the future, within 60 days of the approval of an alternative assessment instrument, the division is required to develop and approve a training course and curriculum for the implementation of the alternative assessment instrument.

FISCAL ANALYSIS

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

      None received.

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

      The OLS anticipates that this bill will lead to an indeterminate increase in annual expenditures for the Administrative Office of Courts to develop and implement training on domestic violence risk assessments and to the Department of Law and Public Safety to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment tools.

      Although the ODARA is currently the risk assessment model the State requires to be utilized, if the Office of the Attorney General determines it is no longer the best measurement tool, law enforcement agencies Statewide may incur ongoing indeterminate costs to train officers in the use of any newly approved assessment instrument.  Moreover, conducting these risk assessments and facilitating immediate access to services for victims of domestic violence may prolong officer response times, which may result in increased labor or administrative costs to State and local law enforcement agencies.

      Although the OLS does not have access to the number of individuals that would require this assistance in a given year, the FY 2026 Governor’s Budget evaluation data indicate that there were more than 54,000 domestic violence case filings in FY 2024 and more than 52,000 domestic violence case filings in FY 2023.

Section:	Law and Public Safety
Analyst:	Kristin Brunner Santos Lead Fiscal Analyst
Approved:	Thomas Koenig Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).