Four-year “Lisa’s Law” pilot would use electronic monitoring with victim alerts, add fees and penalties, and set up a state fund to pay for the program.
TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey lawmakers advanced a four-year pilot program in Ocean County that would electronically monitor certain domestic violence offenders and notify victims when court-ordered boundaries are breached, according to Assembly Bill A3731. The measure, designated “Lisa’s Law,” directs the Attorney General and State Parole Board to implement the pilot, with courts empowered to order monitoring after contempt convictions tied to domestic violence restraining orders. The bill appropriates $2.5 million to launch the program and establishes a dedicated fund to sustain it.
Under the pilot, monitoring can only be ordered with the victim’s informed consent. Judges may impose monitoring at sentencing or as a probation condition following a conviction for contempt of a domestic violence order. Devices and tracking systems must meet the National Institute of Justice Offender Tracking Systems Standard 1004.00, with statewide law enforcement and court agencies directed to share information and respond to alerts around the clock.
Courts are instructed to weigh specific risk factors before ordering monitoring, including the severity of prior harm, any history of domestic violence or other crimes, access to weapons, suicide or homicide threats, mental health history, and alcohol or substance abuse. A defendant can be ordered to pay monitoring costs based on ability to pay and is assessed a $250 monitoring fee, which a court may waive in cases of extreme financial hardship.
Victim consent must be informed and documented. Before consenting, the victim must receive detailed explanations about how the technology functions and its limits, what movements are tracked, the boundaries imposed on the defendant, sanctions for violations, steps to take if equipment fails or an order is violated, and available safety planning and support services. Communications with the court on monitoring are non-confidential.
Making headlines, Fugitive Wanted for Striking North Carolina Deputy in Construction Zone Captured in Ocean County.
What the pilot authorizes and how it will work
When a defendant is convicted of contempt of a domestic violence order, courts may: sentence the defendant directly to electronic monitoring with victim notification; or order monitoring as a condition of probation or a suspended sentence. Tampering with, removing, or vandalizing a monitoring device is a third-degree crime, punishable by three to five years’ imprisonment and up to a $15,000 fine.
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Administrative Office of the Courts, must maintain 24/7 procedures to determine, investigate, and report noncompliance. All noncompliance reports must be investigated by law enforcement within a reasonable time. The Attorney General, State Police, Parole Board, courts, and county and municipal agencies must share data generated by the program.
To finance operations, the bill creates the Domestic Violence Victim Notification Fund. Money flows into the fund from defendant-paid monitoring costs and the $250 monitoring fee, plus two temporary civil penalties: a $200 assessment on persons found at a final hearing to have committed an act of domestic violence, and a $250 assessment on persons convicted of domestic violence crimes or contempt of a domestic violence order, unless that person already paid the $250 monitoring fee. All fund dollars must be used to defray program costs.
The bill shields vendors supplying the program’s devices and services from liability for injuries or deaths associated with the use of their products or systems, except where a manufacturing defect proximately causes the harm. It also amends the Local Public Contracts Law to allow services and equipment needed for the pilot to be procured without public bidding and awarded by governing body resolution for the duration of the pilot.
Oversight, evaluation, and sunset provisions
The pilot begins upon enactment and runs four years in Ocean County. Not later than one year after implementation—and annually for a total of four reports—the Attorney General must deliver evaluations to the Governor and Legislature with recommendations on whether to continue the program statewide. Any unexpended appropriated funds return to the General Fund when the pilot ends.
Breaking now, Some Children Left Behind: New Jersey Lawmakers Intentionally Shortchanging School Districts Because of Political Affiliation.
The court may also order defendants to pay part or all of the monitoring and notification costs based on ability to pay. Courts retain discretion to waive the $250 monitoring fee and the $200 civil penalty in cases of extreme financial hardship. The $200 and $250 civil penalties expire at the end of the fifth year following implementation.
The statute requires that monitoring decisions be individualized. Judges may hold hearings to assess whether electronic monitoring is likely to deter further harm to the victim, considering the defendant’s prior conduct, threats, access to weapons, and personal history including mental health and substance use. These findings inform whether monitoring, combined with victim alerts and defined geographic “exclusion zones,” will provide meaningful protection.
Program mechanics and victim protections
Operationally, the system must track defendants in real time, enforce court-ordered boundaries, and issue alerts that trigger law enforcement responses and victim notifications. The Administrative Office of the Courts, the Attorney General, and Parole Board must coordinate to ensure technical reliability, data integrity, and continuous coverage. The technology must comply with NIJ performance and safety standards, including device durability, location accuracy, tamper detection, and software controls.
Informed consent protocols require courts to brief victims on how monitoring may record their movements, what happens if equipment fails, and how to access shelter, counseling, legal representation, child care, and other services. Victims retain the right to refuse participation and may petition the court to terminate participation after it is ordered.
The bill clarifies procurement and liability to speed deployment and sustain reliability during the pilot. By allowing non-bid procurement for specified services and equipment, the program can standardize technology and support while the Attorney General’s office evaluates performance. Vendor liability is narrowed to traditional product-defect claims to encourage participation and ensure clarity around risk allocation.
Continuing coverage, Furio From The Sopranos Shows Up in Asbury Park.
The measure also mandates data sharing among statewide and local agencies so that violations are acted upon promptly. The Attorney General must ensure every noncompliance alert is investigated in a timely manner, with procedures designed for continuous operation, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Program funding blends upfront State appropriation with user-based assessments that flow into the dedicated fund. Courts may reduce or waive fees based on hardship to avoid undermining compliance or creating barriers to supervision. By statute, all revenues in the fund are restricted to monitoring and victim notification costs tied to the pilot.
The Legislature’s statement designates the program as “Lisa’s Law” in remembrance of Letizia Zindell of Toms River, a domestic violence victim murdered by her former fiancé. The title signals the bill’s targeted focus: using electronic tools to create immediate consequences for boundary violations and to give victims timely notice to take protective action while cases remain under court supervision.
Across the region, Why Sagging Pants Remain Common in New Jersey Communities Decades After the Trend Began.