New Jersey A 481: "The New Jersey Healthcare Choice Act"; permits health insurers licensed in other states to provide coverage in New Jersey under certain circumstances.

Bill Text

A481 

ASSEMBLY, No. 481 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ

District 33 (Hudson)

Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK

District 37 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Upgrades to third degree crime for cyber-harassment 
of public servant or family member of public servant; establishes Office of 
Cyber-Harassment Support in DLPS; appropriates funds.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning cyber-harassment, amending and 
supplementing P.L.2013, c.272, and making an appropriation.

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

���� 1. Section 1 of P.L.2013, 
c.272 (C.2C:33-4.1) is amended as follows: 

��� 1. a. A person commits the 
crime of cyber-harassment if, while making one or more communications in an 
online capacity via any electronic device or through a social networking site 
and with the purpose to harass another, the person:

���� (1) threatens to inflict 
injury or physical harm to any person or the property of any person;

���� (2) knowingly sends, posts, 
comments, requests, suggests, or proposes any lewd, indecent, or obscene 
material to or about a person with the intent to emotionally harm a reasonable 
person or place a reasonable person in fear of physical or emotional harm to 
his person; or

���� (3) threatens to commit any 
crime against the person or the person's property.

���� b.��� Cyber-harassment is a 
crime of the fourth degree, [unless] except 
that cyber harassment is a crime of the third degree if the person:

���� (1) is 21 years of age 
or older at the time of the offense and impersonates a minor for the purpose of 
cyber-harassing a minor[, 
in which case it is a crime of the third degree]; 

���� (2)� commits the offense 
against a public servant or any member of a public servant�s family.� 

���� For purposes of this 
section, �public servant" means any person elected to public office, 
appointed to, or employed by any public entity in this State, or any 
subdivision thereof, and shall include any person serving as a judicial 
officer, as defined in section 1 of P.L.1995, c.23 (C.47:1A-1.1), juror, 
advisor, or consultant, performing a governmental function, but shall not 
include witnesses.���������������������� c.�������� If a minor under the 
age of 16 is adjudicated delinquent for cyber-harassment, the court may order 
as a condition of the sentence that the minor, accompanied by a parent or 
guardian, complete, in a satisfactory manner, one or both of the following:

���� (1) a class or training 
program intended to reduce the tendency toward cyber-harassment behavior; or

���� (2) a class or training 
program intended to bring awareness to the dangers associated with 
cyber-harassment.

���� d.��� A parent or guardian who 
fails to comply with a condition imposed by the court pursuant to subsection c. 
of this section is a disorderly person and shall be fined not more than $100 
for a first offense and not more than $500 for each subsequent offense.

���� e.���� The trier of fact may 
infer that a person acted with a purpose to harass another if the person knows 
or should have known that any of the person's actions constituting an offense 
under this section are knowingly directed to or are about a [judicial 
officer] 
public servant, and there is a nexus between the offense and relates to 
the performance of the [judge's] public 
servant�s public duties.� [For 
the purposes of this subsection, "judicial officer" has the same 
meaning as defined in section 1 of P.L.1995, c.23 (C.47:1A-1.1).] 

���� f.���� In addition to any 
other disposition or condition imposed pursuant to this section, a parent or 
guardian having legal custody of a minor who demonstrates willful or wanton 
disregard in the exercise of the supervision and control of the conduct of a 
minor adjudicated delinquent of cyber-harassment pursuant to this section may 
be liable in a civil action pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2021, c.338 
(C.2A:53A-17.1).

(cf: P.L.2021, c.338, s.1)

���� 2. (New section) a. The 
Attorney General shall establish an Office of Cyber-Harassment Support in the 
Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance in the Department of 
Law and Public Safety.� The purpose of the office shall be to promote education 
and awareness of cyber-harassment, provide assistance to victims of 
cyber-harassment crimes, and promote initiatives and training throughout the 
State to prevent cyber-harassment, specifically against public servants and 
their family members. 

���� b. The office shall be under 
the supervision of a Director of the Office of Cyber-Harassment Support.� The 
Office of Cyber-Harassment Support shall manage and oversee all educational, 
awareness, and victim support activities across the State.� The office�s 
responsibilities shall include, but are not limited to,