New Jersey Statutes 39:5-3. Appearance, arrest process; complaint; venue
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 39:5-3
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
b. A complaint may be made to a judge for a violation of R.S.39:3-12, R.S.39:3-34, R.S.39:3-37, R.S.39:4-129 or R.S.39:10-24 at any time within one year after the commission of the offense; for a violation of R.S.39:4-50, section 2 of P.L.1981, c.512 (C. 39:4-50.4a), section 5 of P.L.1990, c.103 (C. 39:3-10.13), section 10 of P.L.1990 c.103 (C. 39:3-10.18), section 16 of P.L.1990, c.103 (C. 39:3-10.24), section 3 of P.L.1952, c.157 (C. 12:7-46), section 9 of P.L.1986, c.39 (C. 12:7-57), R.S.39:3-40, or section 1 of P.L.1942, c.192 (C. 39:4-128.1), at any time within 90 days after the commission of the offense.
c. All proceedings shall be brought before a judge having jurisdiction in the municipality in which it is alleged that the violation occurred, but when a violation occurs on a street through which the boundary line of two or more municipalities runs or crosses, then the proceeding may be brought before the judge having jurisdiction in any one of the municipalities divided by said boundary line, and in the event there shall be no judge or should no judge having such jurisdiction be available for the acceptance of bail and disposition of the case, or should the judges having such jurisdiction be disqualified because of personal interest in the proceedings, or for any other legal cause, said proceeding shall be brought before a judge having jurisdiction in the nearest municipality to the one in which it is alleged such a violation occurred.
amended 1940, c.212; 1942, c.334, s.1; 1951, c.251; 1953, c.36, s.6; 1959, c.58; 1983, c.403, s.19; 2000, c.85, s.1; 2002, c.56; 2009, c.52, s.1; 2017, c.249; 2023, c.250, s.39.