Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
P.O. Box 068
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
Fax (609) 777-2442
www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 2051
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: DECEMBER 2, 2024
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Requires law enforcement officer to conduct danger assessment of
domestic violence victims and provide assistance to high-risk victims.
Type of Impact: Annual State and local government expenditure increases.
Agencies Affected: Department of Law and Public Safety; Domestic Violence Fatality and
Near Fatality Review Board; 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 one-time expenditures to the Department of Law and Public Safety to develop the
domestic violence danger assessment instrument and incorporate its use into the Statewide law
enforcement training curriculum.
Statewide law enforcement agencies may incur ongoing indeterminate costs to train officers in
the use of the new assessment instrument. Moreover, conducting these danger 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
The bill requires a law enforcement officer to conduct a danger assessment of any person who
the officer has reasonable cause to believe is a victim of domestic violence to determine if the
potential victim is in immediate need of services. The assessment would be conducted with the
consent of the alleged victim using an instrument approved by the Department of Law and Public FE to S2051
2
Safety, in consultation with the State’s Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review
Board.
The bill also requires the department to incorporate additional training on conducting the
danger assessment into the current domestic violence training course and curriculum for law
enforcement officers, as well as notifying and facilitating access for services to alleged victims
who are deemed to be at an elevated risk of harm pursuant to an assessment.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS anticipates that this bill will lead to an indeterminate increase in one-time
expenditures to the Department of Law and Public Safety to develop the domestic violence danger
assessment instrument and incorporate its use into the Statewide law enforcement training
curriculum. In addition, there may be reoccurring costs to the department to periodically update
the danger assessment instrument and training curriculum to align with emerging best practices.
Statewide law enforcement agencies may incur ongoing indeterminate costs to train officers in
the use of the new assessment instrument. Moreover, conducting these danger 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.
Although the OLS does not have access to the number of individuals that would require this
assistance in a given year, the 2020 New Jersey Domestic Violence Report, the most recent report
available, cited 63,058 domestic violence offenses reported by the police in 2020 and 59,645
reported in 2019.
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.).