A 5369 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Expands offenses for which juvenile may be waived to adult criminal court to include certain thefts or unlawful takings of motor vehicles; makes use of juvenile in theft of motor vehicle strict liability crime.

This bill expands when juveniles aged 15+ can be sent to adult court for motor vehicle theft. It adds "theft or unlawful taking of a motor vehicle" to the list of offenses eligible for waiver to adult court, but only if the juvenile has previously been found delinquent for a similar offense. The bill also clarifies that using a minor (under 18) in vehicle theft is a strict liability crime, meaning adults cannot claim they mistakenly believed the minor was older. This makes the offense a second-degree crime punishable by 5-10 years in prison or a $150,000 fine.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 25, 2025 Last action Feb 25, 2025
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Feb 25, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
lower
2 primary · 2 co-sponsors

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