ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

ASSEMBLY, No. 3091

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

ADOPTED OCTOBER 22, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  LISA SWAIN

District 38 (Bergen)

Assemblywoman  CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblywoman  LINDA S. CARTER

District 22 (Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

     Concerns sexual assault complaints.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Substitute as adopted by the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

An Act concerning sexual assault and supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1.    a.   The Secretary of Higher Education shall impose a penalty of $10,000 against an institution of higher education if the secretary determines that the institution failed to appropriately respond to and investigate an allegation of sexual assault made by a student enrolled in the institution against another student enrolled in the institution, and to impose appropriate disciplinary action against the perpetrator if the allegation is substantiated.

     b.    The civil penalty prescribed by subsection a. of this section shall be collected by the secretary in a summary proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).

     2.  a. (1)  Every State, county, and municipal law enforcement agency shall notify the appropriate county prosecutor’s office within 24 hours of receiving a report or complaint of a sexual assault pursuant to N.J.S.2C:14-2 or otherwise becoming aware of a sexual assault that occurred in the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency.

     (2) Every campus police department at an institution of higher education in this State that appoints police officers pursuant to P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2 et seq.) shall notify the appropriate county prosecutor’s office within 24 hours of receiving a report or complaint of a sexual assault pursuant to N.J.S.2C:14-2 or otherwise becoming aware of a sexual assault that occurred in the jurisdiction of the campus police department if the victim of the sexual assault provides written consent. 

     (3) Each county prosecutor’s office shall develop and implement protocols that assist law enforcement agencies and campus police departments in complying with this requirement. 

     b.  A supervisor in the Special Victims Unit or the Juvenile Unit or an equivalent unit of each county prosecutor’s office shall review and approve all final dispositions in sexual assault cases, including decisions regarding whether to bring or decline to bring criminal charges. 

     c. In addition to the requirements set forth in section 1 of P.L.2003, c.137 (C.2C:14-2.1), when a county prosecutor’s office declines to prosecute a sexual assault case, the assistant prosecutor assigned to the case shall provide the victim with an opportunity for an in-person meeting, during which the assistant prosecutor shall explain the basis for declining prosecution.

     3.  This bill shall take effect immediately.