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 SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE, No. 2544
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: FEBRUARY 3, 2025
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Establishes criminal penalties for production or dissemination of
deceptive audio or visual media, commonly known as "deepfakes."
Type of Impact: Annual State expenditure and revenue increases; annual local
expenditure increases.
Agencies Affected: The Judiciary; Department of Law and Public Safety; Office of the
Public Defender; Department of Corrections; State Parole Board;
Counties.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Annual
State Cost Increase Indeterminate
State Revenue Increase Indeterminate
Local Cost Increase Indeterminate
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill may result in an indeterminate
annual increase in State and local costs. The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the
exact fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of crimes likely to be committed
under the provisions of this bill.
The OLS finds that the following State and local agencies may incur caseload and expenditure
increases: a) county prosecutors would have to prosecute additional cases; b) the Judiciary
would have to adjudicate additional complaints and monitor additional probationers; c) the
Office of the Public Defender would have to represent additional low income criminal
defendants; d) the Department of Corrections may have to house and care for more individuals;
and e) the State Parole Board may have to supervise the return to society of additional
offenders. FE to SS for SCS for S2544
2
The State may realize an indeterminate increase in annual revenues from the collection of
regular and enhanced fines and court fees. However, the State’s ability to collect these
penalties and fees has historically been limited.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill establishes a crime of the third degree if a natural person, without license or privilege
to do so, generates or creates, or causes to be generated or created, deceptive audio or visual media
with the intent that it be used as part of a plan or course of conduct to commit any crime as
enumerated in the bill.
The trier of fact may infer that a work of deceptive audio or visual media was generated or
created without license or privilege to do so if the work was generated or created using a
commercially or publicly available generative artificial intelligence system in violation of the
terms of service, terms of use, or end user license agreement of the system.
The bill also establishes a crime of the third degree if a natural person, without license or
privilege to do so, solicits, uses, or discloses a work of deceptive audio or visual media as part of
a plan or course of conduct to commit any crime.
Furthermore, the bill establishes a crime of the third degree if a natural person, without license
or privilege to do so, discloses a work of deceptive audio or visual media that the person knows or
should reasonably know was created in violation of the provisions of the bill.
A crime of the third degree is punishable by a three to five year term of imprisonment, a fine
of up to $15,000, or both. The bill instead imposes a fine of up to $30,000 instead of $15,000. A
conviction for a violation of the bill does not merge with a conviction for the underlying crime in
which the deepfake is used.
Under the bill, a person would be liable to the victim, for a violation of the bill’s provisions,
and the latter may bring a civil action in the Superior Court.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS estimates that this bill may result in indeterminate annual State and local cost
increases. The OLS cannot quantify the exact fiscal impact since the number of cases and
convictions resulting from the bill’s provisions cannot be known.
The bill’s establishment of criminal penalties may result in: a) county prosecutors prosecuting
additional cases; b) the Judiciary adjudicating additional complaints and monitoring additional
probationers; c) the Office of the Public Defender representing additional low-income criminal
defendants; d) the Department of Corrections housing additional individuals; and e) the State
Parole Board supervising the return to society of additional offenders. The OLS notes that a
presumption of non-incarceration generally applies to first time offenders of crimes of the third
degree. However, to the extent the bill results in additional incarcerations, the Department of
Corrections would incur costs. Based on information provided by the Department of Corrections, FE to SS for SCS for S2544
3
the FY 2023 average annual cost for housing, ensuring security, and providing services to an
incarcerated individual was $75,574, with an average daily cost of $207.
A crime of the third degree is ordinarily punishable by a term of three to five years
imprisonment, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. However, the bill provides that a court may impose
a fine of up to $30,000. The State may realize an indeterminate increase in annual revenues from
the collection of regular and enhanced fines and court fees; however, the State’s ability to collect
these penalties and fees has historically been limited.
Section: Judiciary
Analyst: Anuja Pande Joshi
Senior 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.).