New Jersey Statutes 40A:9-22.24. Response by municipal ethics board to written complaint
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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 40A:9-22.24
- 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.
- local finance board: means the Local Finance Board in the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs. See New Jersey Statutes 40A:1-1
- 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
The municipal ethics board, upon receipt of a signed written complaint by any person alleging that the conduct of any local government officer or employee serving the municipality is in conflict with the municipal code of ethics or financial disclosure requirements, shall acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 30 days of receipt and initiate an investigation concerning the facts and circumstances set forth in the complaint. The ethics board shall make a determination as to whether the complaint is within its jurisdiction or frivolous or without any reasonable factual basis. If the ethics board shall conclude that the complaint is outside its jurisdiction, frivolous or without factual basis, it shall reduce that conclusion to writing and shall transmit a copy thereof to the complainant and to the local government officer or employee against whom the complaint was filed. Otherwise the ethics board shall notify the local government officer or employee against whom the complaint was filed of the nature of the complaint and the facts and circumstances set forth therein. The officer or employee shall have the opportunity to present the ethics board with any statement or information concerning the complaint which he wishes. Thereafter, if the ethics board determines that a reasonable doubt exists as to whether the local government officer or employee is in conflict with the municipal code of ethics or any financial disclosure requirements, it shall conduct a hearing in the manner prescribed by section 12 of this act, concerning the possible violation and any other facts and circumstances which may have come to its attention with respect to the conduct of the local government officer or employee. The ethics board shall render a decision as to whether the conduct of the officer or employee is in conflict with the municipal code of ethics or any financial disclosure requirements. This decision shall be made by no less than two-thirds of all members of the ethics board.
If the ethics board determines that the officer or employee is in conflict with the code or any financial disclosure requirements, it may impose any penalties which it believes appropriate within the limitations of this act. A final decision of the ethics board may be appealed to the Local Finance Board within 30 days of the decision.
L.1991,c.29,s.24.