AG Modifications to CJ Reform Policies: Part 12

Previous section 4.6.5 was removed and replaced with the following section:

4.6.5 Transmission of the ODARA Scoring Form to the Prosecutor’s Office. The law enforcement officer shall transmit a copy of a completed ODARA Scoring Form to the applicable County Prosecutor’s Office as soon as practicable after its completion, in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the County Prosecutor. The original ODARA Scoring Form shall be maintained in the case file.

The following sections were also added to the Directive:

4.6.6 Transmission of the ODARA Scoring Form to the Division of Criminal Justice for Centralized Data Collection. In addition to transmitting a copy of the ODARA Scoring Form to the Prosecutor’s Office, the law enforcement officer shall also scan and email a copy of the Scoring Form to the Division of Criminal Justice utilizing the email address ODARA@njdcj.org.

4.6.7 Prohibition of Communicating and Providing ODARA Scores and Scoring Forms to Judiciary. The Judiciary has made clear that it currently is not prepared to utilize the ODARA. Thus, until further notice, ODARA scores shall not be communicated or disseminated to the members of the Judiciary (i.e., judicial officers, including judges and court administrators, and pretrial service program personnel), and completed ODARA Scoring Forms shall not be offered in evidence. This prohibition applies to every stage of a criminal prosecution (e.g. applications for complaint-warrants, requests for conditions of release, hearings for pretrial detention, and trials). However, law enforcement should utilize all information learned from the ODARA to frame critical decisions during criminal prosecutions, including whether to seek a complaint-warrant and whether to seek detention. Additionally, the prosecutor can and should refer to any facts learned through administration of the ODARA in support of a motion for complaint-warrant or detention, as appropriate.

While the evidence rules are relaxed at all pretrial hearings except for Miranda hearings, reference to the chief law enforcement officer’s own directive is always a useful tool. Here, it would be a basis in support of an objection to a prosecutor’s attempt to reference the ODARA at a detention hearing or risk-assessment hearing to determine the conditions of release.