The amendments to N.J.S.A. 2C: 52-6 continue:
(c) Appointments to the task force shall be made within 30 days of the effective date of this section. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
(d) Members of the task force shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the task force within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force for its purposes.
(e) The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of its members. The task force shall choose a chairperson from among its members and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the task force.
(f) The Department of Law and Public Safety shall provide such stenographic, clerical, and other administrative assistants, and such professional staff as the task force requires to carry out its work. The task force shall also be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available for its purposes.
(2) It shall be the duty of the task force to identify, analyze and recommend solutions to any technological, fiscal, resource, and practical issues that may arise in the development and implementation of the automated process described in subsection a. of this section. In carrying out these responsibilities, the task force shall to the extent feasible:
(a) examine and evaluate the effectiveness of the design and implementation of automated processes in Pennsylvania and California and other jurisdictions that have implemented similar programs, and consult with officials in those jurisdictions concerning their processes and any technological, fiscal, resource, and practical issues that they may have encountered, contemplated, or addressed in developing and implementing those systems; and
(b) consult with non-profit computer programming organizations such as “Code for America” with expertise in assisting in the implementation of automated processes and expungement processing generally, to the extent those organizations make themselves available for this purpose; and
(c) identify the necessary systemic changes, required technology, cost estimates, and possible sources of funding for developing and implementing the automated process described in subsection a. of this section.
(3) (a) The task force shall issue a final report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), no later than 180 days after the task force organizes.
(b) The task force shall expire 30 days after the issuance of its report.
Consulting with the authorities in California and Pennsylvania regarding implementation of the proposed sweeping changes to the expungement statutes should save a lot of time and money. However, the authorities in those states may be justified in charging fees for consultation since they did a great deal of the leg work from which New Jersey stands to benefit.
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