A 4603 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Allows commercial farmer to be awarded reasonable costs and attorney fees for defending against bad faith complaints under "Right to Farm Act".

This bill (A4603) allows commercial farmers in New Jersey to recover reasonable legal costs and attorney fees when defending against complaints they win under the "Right to Farm Act." It directly affects farmers who successfully prove a complaint was filed in bad faith and that their farming activity met the Act's legal standards. Key provisions require farmers to apply to their county agriculture board or the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), which must then determine if the complaint was filed in bad faith (by a preponderance of evidence) and if the costs/fees are reasonable before ordering the complainant to pay. The change provides a specific remedy for farmers facing frivolous legal challenges, strengthening existing protections under the Act.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jun 2024
Committee Review
Jun 2025
General Assembly Passage
Dec 2024
Senate Passage
Jun 2025
Signed into Law
Nov 2025
Introduced Jun 17, 2024 Signed Nov 13, 2025
Floor votes · Senate Jun 30, 2025 · General Assembly Dec 19, 2024

How they voted

390
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 40
Jun 30, 2025
D Democratic25
25 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican15
14 Yea 1
93% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
5
Committee
3
Nov 13, 2025
Signed into law
Approved P.L.2025, c.156.
executive
Jun 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (39-0)
upper
Jun 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading
upper
Jan 14, 2025
Committee
Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee
upper
Dec 19, 2024
Lower · Passed
Passed Assembly (73-0-0)
lower
Oct 24, 2024
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading
lower
Jun 17, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee
lower
5 primary · 10 co-sponsors

Sponsors