STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL KANITRA
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits setting of snares or cable restraint traps on certain National Guard property; establishes penalties.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the use of snares and cable restraint traps, and supplementing Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any other law, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary, it shall be unlawful to set a snare or cable restraint trap on any National Guard property that is 150 acres or more in size, and is located in a municipality with a population density of at least 1,500 persons per square mile according to the 2020 decennial census.
b. A person who violates subsection a. of this section shall be liable to a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $200 for the first offense, and not less than $200 nor more than $500 for each subsequent offense. Each snare or cable restraint set shall constitute a separate offense. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection may enforce the provisions of this section. Any penalty imposed pursuant to this section may be collected, with costs, in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999" in connection with this act.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends existing law to prohibit the setting of a snare or cable restraint on any National Guard property that is 150 acres or more in size, and is located in a municipality with a population density of at least 1,500 persons per square mile according to the 2020 decennial census. The bill establishes a civil penalty of $100 to $200 for the first offense, and $200 to $500 for each subsequent offense. Each snare or cable restraint set would constitute a separate offense. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to enforce the bill’s provisions, and collect penalties, costs and fines pursuant to the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999”. The bill provides that the Superior Court and the municipal court would have jurisdiction to enforce the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999” in connection with this bill’s provisions.
This bill addresses reports of trapping and killing local fox populations on lands owned by the New Jersey National Guard Training Center and the State Police Academy. The foxes were being trapped and euthanized to protect local nesting areas of piping plover.