a. The Legislature finds and declares that there is a need to improve the management, efficiency and effectiveness of municipal court operations and quality of justice by providing funds:

(1) To be utilized by the Administrative Office of the Courts to design, equip, operate and maintain a standardized, Statewide computer system, including integrated traffic ticket control, court financial accounting, case processing, statistical reporting services and other components necessary to automate municipal court operations; and

(2) To ensure the smooth exchange of automated information among the Judiciary, the Division of Motor Vehicles, law enforcement agencies, other public or quasi-public agencies, or those autonomous systems approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

b. In order to accomplish these purposes, there is created the “Automated Traffic System Fund.” The fund shall be a dedicated fund within the General Fund and administered by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The fund shall be the depository of moneys realized from the $1.00 surcharge imposed pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1990, c.95 (C. 2A:8-21.1), the $2.00 court cost assessment imposed pursuant to subsection a. of N.J.S. 22A:3-4 and any other moneys made available for the purposes of the fund.

c. The Supreme Court may issue Rules of Court to effectuate the purposes of this act.

d. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent a municipality, at its own expense, from maintaining or obtaining and using an autonomous computer system for integrated traffic ticket control, court financial accounting, case processing, statistical reporting services and other components necessary to automate municipal court operations that interconnects with the Automated Traffic System, its components and computer network, upon the approval of the Administrative Office of the Courts, in accordance with the following:

(1) An autonomous system shall only be approved for interconnection with the Automated Traffic System (ATS) when it meets all technical interconnection requirements, standardized data definitions and functionality of the Automated Traffic System, including its criminal and ordinance violation components, necessary to: fully automate municipal court operations in accordance with law, court rule or administrative directive; maintain and update on-line the standardized Statewide data base and its electronic traffic and criminal warrant components; and provide for on-line inquiry and exchange of automated data, consistent with the purposes expressed in subsection a. of this section.

(2) A municipality that obtains and uses an autonomous system, approved for interconnection with the Automated Traffic System, shall retain, from the date of interconnection, one-half the full amount of that portion of the court cost assessment imposed and collected on and after that date for payment into the Automated Traffic System Fund, pursuant to subsection a. of N.J.S. 22A:3-4 The retained court cost assessment shall be used by the municipality to offset the operating costs of its autonomous system, including costs to maintain compliance with the interconnection requirements of the Automated Traffic System. A municipality shall be entitled only to retain those court cost assessments for as long as its autonomous system continues to meet the update and other requirements of paragraph (1) of subsection d. of this section.

(3) That portion of the court cost assessment, imposed pursuant to subsection a. of N.J.S. 22A:3-4 and retained by the State, shall be used for the purposes described in subsection a. of this section including: the State’s costs, within the Automated Traffic System, of developing and maintaining interconnection with an autonomous system; the maintenance, improvement and updating of the Automated Traffic System, its components and the standardized Statewide data base; and the procurement and maintenance of hand-held data entry devices and related equipment for use by parking authorities or parking agencies who choose to be directly serviced by the Automated Traffic System. The Administrative Office of the Courts may obtain either directly, through the Statewide master contract process, or as otherwise provided by law, automation services or equipment including hand-held, ticket-issuing devices and printers for use by those parking authorities or parking agencies to facilitate the exchange of automated information and maintain the efficiency of the standardized Statewide computer system.

(4) An autonomous computer system used by a municipality shall be interconnected with the Automated Traffic System and its components by January 1, 1997. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall, at no cost to the municipality, install and maintain the telecommunication line and the court’s modem to permit the municipal court to provide for the on-line exchange of automated information with the Automated Traffic System and its components. The Administrative Office of the Courts shall maintain sufficient capacity on its mainframe computer to incorporate the standardized data of that municipal court into the Statewide record system, including the Statewide traffic and criminal warrant systems. Any municipality that fails to maintain and use an autonomous computer system that meets the requirements of this subsection by January 1, 1997 shall be implemented on ATS directly. After that date, municipal courts operating on ATS retain full discretion to either continue on ATS or subsequently obtain and use an autonomous system approved for interconnection.

(5) Nothing in this section shall preclude the Administrative Office of the Courts from immediately terminating, on an emergency basis, without notice, any interconnection with an autonomous system whose continued operation at any time immediately threatens or has compromised the security or data integrity of the Automated Traffic System, any of its components or any of the public and quasi-public agencies that exchange automated information with the Automated Traffic System, pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection a. of this section. The municipality shall immediately be provided with written reasons for the termination, which shall continue until the threats to security and data integrity have been removed.

(6) If there is any disagreement between the municipality and the Administrative Office of the Courts concerning the standards for the exchange of automated information set forth in this section, the municipality or the Administrative Office of the Courts may seek the advice of the New Jersey Information Resources Management Commission established pursuant to P.L.1993, c. 199 (C. 52:9XX-1 et seq.).

(7) Any municipal contract related to the operation of an autonomous computer system shall be subject to review, audit and the policies of the Division of Local Government Services in accordance with N.J.S. 40A:11-1 et seq. including the auditing standards of the Division of Local Government Services relating to the processing of transactions by servicing organizations pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1972, c.112 (C. 40A:11-12.6). All contracts between municipalities and private service providers shall require compliance with the provisions of this section.

(8) The Administrative Office of the Courts shall promulgate administrative procedures necessary to accomplish the purposes of this subsection.

e. By April 1, 1996, a special committee shall be established to review the adequacy of funding for the Automated Traffic System and the Automated Complaint System and the extent to which autonomous computer system interconnections have been requested and successfully completed. The committee may recommend to what extent, if any, the funding level should be adjusted and the need for any further legislative action. The special committee shall be comprised of seven members as follows: one Senator appointed by the President of the Senate; one member of the General Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts or his designee; the president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities or his designee; the president of the New Jersey Municipal Court Administrators Association or his designee; the president of the New Jersey Municipal Managers Association or his designee and the president of the New Jersey Association of Parking Authorities and Agencies or his designee. The committee shall report its findings to the Legislature by September 30, 1996.

Source: C. 2A:8-21.2 and C. 2A:8-21.3 (P.L.1990, c.96, ss. 1 and 2).

L.1993,c.293,s.1.