ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4966

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: DECEMBER 18, 2025

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4966 (1R).

      As amended, the bill extends the statute of limitations under which a victim of human trafficking may bring a civil suit against the perpetrator.  Under current law, pursuant to subsection g. of N.J.S.A.2C:1-6, a civil suit brought by a victim of human trafficking under N.J.S.A.2C:13-8.1 must be filed within five years.

      Under the bill, a civil suit may be filed by a victim of human trafficking within 10 years of the conduct, within 10 years of a victim turning 18 years old if the victim is a minor, or within two years of a plaintiff’s discovery of the injury, whichever is later.  Extending the civil statute of limitations for human trafficking to 10 years will bring State law into accord with similar provisions under federal law.

      Under the bill, the civil statute of limitations will not begin to run until a continuing course of conduct relating to the human trafficking of the plaintiff is terminated.  The statute of limitations may be tolled for any period of time during which the plaintiff is under a disability, which includes any intellectual disability, hospitalization for mental illness, or finding of mental incapacity.  The bill prohibits a defendant who coerced a plaintiff who is a victim of human trafficking to delay filing suit by means of intimidation, duress, threats, or fraud from asserting a defense that the statute of limitations has already run.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to remove provisions modifying the criminal statute of limitations for kidnapping and human trafficking.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that this bill would result in annual indeterminate State costs related to the adjudication of additional civil suits brought by victims of human trafficking.  The OLS notes that the Judiciary will incur an indeterminate increase in annual operating expenditures, as additional resources will likely have to be allocated to a potentially increased civil caseload due to the extension of the civil statute of limitations.  The OLS also anticipates collections from court filing fees to grow in tandem with the caseload.