Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced a directive instructing law enforcement agencies to no longer, in most instances, subject individuals encountered with municipal court bench warrants with bail amounts of $500 or less to custodial arrest.
Instead, those individuals—who are already generally released after arrest—will now be given notice of a new court date and released on scene.
Attorney General Directive 2022-6 is being issued today in conjunction with Directive #04-22 of the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).
Together, these policies seek both to avoid the ramifications of arrest for individuals on such outstanding bench warrants and to use law enforcement resources more efficiently and safely.
Municipal courts adjudicate traffic offenses, local ordinance violations, and disorderly persons offenses, such as shoplifting, and most result in the offender owing fines or fees.
If a person fails to appear in municipal court or pay the money they owe, the court can issue a warrant for their arrest, called a bench warrant.
Though the number has decreased significantly in recent years, hundreds of thousands of municipal court bench warrants remain outstanding in New Jersey.
If law enforcement encounters an individual with such a warrant, they must arrest that person, even if the underlying offense was a traffic ticket or a similarly minor offense.
Not only is the possibility of arrest at any moment disruptive to a person’s life, but it can also heighten the tension surrounding interactions with law enforcement, increasing the possibility of more volatile encounters.
Moreover, effectuating these arrests and processing the individuals requires significant law enforcement time and resources.
AG Directive 2022-6 provides law enforcement with procedures to follow when encountering individuals subject to outstanding municipal court bench warrants with bail amounts of $500 or less.
Generally, those individuals will not be subject to a custodial arrest, a search, or handcuffing and will sign a bail recognizance form releasing them on the scene with a new date to appear in court unless issuing the notice on scene poses a safety risk or probable cause that a crime has been committed or a pre-existing circumstance—independent of the warrant—justifies such action.
In collaboration with the AOC, the policy also provides law enforcement officers with a comprehensive list of all municipal court schedules across the state to streamline the process of issuing updated court notices.
“This policy represents collaborative, common-sense governance that is both efficient and fair,” said Acting Attorney General Platkin.
“Under these protocols, residents will no longer be subjected to unnecessary and intrusive custodial arrests for hundreds of thousands of outstanding low-level warrants—and officers across New Jersey will avoid spending time effectuating and processing such arrests that by, and large do not further public safety. I’m thankful for the partnership of Chief Justice Rabner, Judge Grant and the Administrative Office of the Courts in this initiative.”
AOC Directive #04-22, which provides the basis for the Attorney General to issue Directive 2022-6, states that all individuals with an outstanding municipal court warrant with a bail amount set at $500 or less that are encountered by law enforcement shall be immediately released on their own recognizance, even if they are unable to post the bail required by the warrant.
The individual must provide updated contact information and receive a new court date, among other things.
Most relevant here, AOC Directive #04-22 gives law enforcement officers the authority to immediately release an individual encountered in these circumstances without contacting or receiving approval from a court.
Accordingly, Directive 2022-6 provides law enforcement officers with protocols for implementing AOC Directive #04-22 in an efficient manner that best promotes public safety.