# New Jersey

New Jersey licenses State and county correctional police officers and State parole officers through the Police Training Commission, the same body that licenses police. The Department of Corrections sets and inspects county jail standards, and the Isolated Confinement Restriction Act limits isolation in State and county facilities. Since 2023 the State has paid a 10-minute shift overlap in State prisons, let counties form regional jail authorities that employ correctional police, raised penalties for throwing bodily fluids at corrections staff, and created a Division of Women’s Services with new training and investigation duties.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/new-jersey

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** Police Training Commission (PTC), in the Division of Criminal Justice. Since [P.L.2022, c.65](https://pub.njleg.gov/bills/2022/PL22/65_.HTM) it licenses every “law enforcement officer,” a term that expressly includes State correctional police officers, county correctional police officers, and State Parole officers. It approves the schools that run basic and in-service courses for State and county adult correctional police officers and juvenile detention officers. The Commissioner of Corrections, the State Parole Board chair, and the New Jersey County Jail Wardens Association sit on the Commission (N.J.S.A. 52:17B-67, -67.1, -70, -71(a), -71a). Licensing, its standards, and discipline are covered on the [New Jersey Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/new-jersey).
- **Statute:** Police Training Act, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-66 to -77.20, including the licensing provisions at 52:17B-71a to -71h and the separation and misconduct notice duty at 52:17B-77.16a. Police powers: State correctional police officers and State parole officers, N.J.S.A. 2A:154-4; county correctional police officers, 2A:154-3. Department of Corrections: Title 30, chapter 1B. Isolated confinement: 30:4-82.5 to -82.11. Regional jail authorities: 40A:67-1 et seq.
- **Minimum standards:** The PTC license standards that apply to police apply to correctional police and parole officers, including the bar on applicants listed in the National Decertification Index; see the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/new-jersey). The background check includes the Prison Rape Elimination Act check under 28 C.F.R. 115.317 “if applicable,” and applicants must disclose their social media accounts (52:17B-71b). Civil Service sets a 12-month working test period for entry-level correction officer titles (11A:4-15(a)).
- **Basic training:** No one may receive a permanent appointment as a law enforcement officer, including correctional police and parole officers, without completing a PTC-approved course at an approved school (52:17B-68). A probationary appointment is limited to one year plus up to six months (52:17B-69). Since January 12, 2026, every PTC basic course must include training on barricaded individuals and mental health crises (52:17B-77.20). Course hours for the State and county correctional police basic courses could not be confirmed: the PTC pages on njoag.gov returned HTTP 403, and N.J.A.C. 13:1 is not on a free official host.
- **In-service training:** State correctional police officers must complete at least 40 hours of in-service training each year, in addition to firearms and use-of-force training. At least 4 hours cover sexual-abuse prevention under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (since January 20, 2026, including reporting methods, confidentiality, and victim support), non-fraternization, and manipulation awareness; 20 hours cover de-escalation, minimizing force, implicit bias, LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming incarcerated people, inmate rights, and officer wellness; 16 hours are facility-chosen topics ([N.J.S.A. 30:1B-6.13](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL25/305_.HTM)). Officers who supervise women must take annual gender-responsive training (30:1B-54(d)). All licensed officers must complete PTC continuing education to stay employed (52:17B-71g).
- **Decertification:** The PTC may suspend, restrict, revoke, condition, or inactivate a license, and “shall revoke” for a crime, domestic violence, or a firearms-disqualifying offense. It reports revocations and denials to the National Decertification Index. The chief officer must notify the PTC of hires, separations, and listed discipline and findings (52:17B-71e, -71f, -77.16a). No statute requires a public list of revoked licenses. The full grounds and process are on the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/new-jersey).
- **Jail standards:** Department of Corrections. The Commissioner sets minimum standards for county jails and other adult county facilities by rule (N.J.A.C. 10A:31). The DOC Office of County Services inspects every county correctional facility each year, inspects municipal detention facilities (N.J.A.C. 10A:34), and reviews construction plans (N.J.S.A. 30:1B-10; [Office of County Services](https://www.nj.gov/corrections/pages/OfficeCountyServices.html)).
- **Probation and parole officers:** State Parole Board parole officers are PTC-licensed law enforcement officers with police powers (52:17B-67; 2A:154-4). Adult probation officers are Judiciary employees appointed by the Assignment Judge of each county’s Superior Court (2A:168-5). They are not in the PTC licensing definition, and no statutory probation officer certification was found.
- **Restrictive housing:** Isolated Confinement Restriction Act ([P.L.2019, c.160](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2018/PL19/160_.HTM)), in force since August 1, 2020 (computed: the first day of the thirteenth month after approval on July 11, 2019), for State and county facilities. Isolated confinement means confinement for approximately 20 or more hours a day in a State facility, or 22 or more in a county facility (30:4-82.7). It is allowed only on reasonable cause to believe there is a substantial risk of serious harm, not for non-disciplinary reasons, and only after a clinician exam; in county jails, medical staff do a preliminary exam within 12 hours and the clinical exam follows within 48 hours, extendable to 72. A hearing is required within 72 hours and a review every 30 days. Daily clinician checks are required in State prisons, and medical-staff checks at least once a week in county jails (30:4-82.8). The limit is 20 consecutive days, or 30 days in any 60-day period, except during a facility-wide lockdown. Members of listed vulnerable groups (age 21 or younger or 65 or older; mental illness or developmental disability; a serious medical condition; significant hearing or vision impairment; pregnancy or the postpartum period; or being perceived as LGBTI) may not be isolated except as the act allows. No one may be released directly from isolation to the community in the last 180 days of a State sentence, or the last 30 days in a county jail. Emergency confinement is capped at 24 hours.
- **Corrections use of force:** Staff and medical providers in State and county correctional facilities may not restrain a woman known to be pregnant, or apply restraints during labor, pregnancy-related medical distress, delivery, or postpartum recovery, and pregnant women may not be placed in isolated confinement (Dignity for Incarcerated Primary Caretaker Parents Act, 30:1B-6.8(c), (d), 6.9(b), (c)). Since January 12, 2026, the Attorney General must review the Statewide use-of-force policy every even-numbered year under core principles set in statute, and use-of-force incidents must be reported and published (52:17B-4.14, -4.15; entry below). The current policy text as it applies to correctional police was not checked, because njoag.gov returned HTTP 403.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Jan 20, 2026 — **Incarcerated Women’s Protection Act: gender-responsive training, a PREA unit, and a special victims unit** — P.L.2025, c.305 (S3530 1R), N.J.S.A. 30:1B-45.1, -45.2, -53 to -57, amending 30:1B-6.13 · Approved January 20, 2026; effective immediately — The act creates a Division of Women’s Services in the Department of Corrections with a Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Compliance Unit, and a special victims unit in the Special Investigations Division to investigate sexual assault and sexual misconduct in State prisons. Every State facility must have confidential interview space. The act also provides doula services and a support person during labor, and gender-responsive classification. “The commissioner shall institute mandatory in-service training for every correctional police officer that supervises female incarcerated persons regarding gender responsive policies.” Section 7 amends the 40-hour annual in-service statute: the PREA hours, which the prior text (P.L.2021, c.305) described only in general terms, now cover PREA terminology, reporting methods, confidentiality, and access to emotional support for victims. — **For corrections staff:** Officers who supervise women need annual gender-responsive training, and every State correctional police officer’s PREA hours now cover reporting, confidentiality, and victim support. — [P.L.2025, c.305](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL25/305_.HTM)[P.L.2021, c.305 (prior text)](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2020/PL21/305_.HTM)
- Jan 12, 2026 — **Police powers confirmed for promoted DOC ranks; use-of-force principles in statute; barricade training** — P.L.2025, c.243 (A4175 3R), N.J.S.A. 52:17B-4.14 to -4.16, 52:17B-77.20, amending 2A:154-4 · Approved January 12, 2026; effective immediately — Section 5 rewrites 2A:154-4 so that police powers cover State correctional police officers and Department of Corrections investigators, “including all promotional ranks and positions responsible for overseeing correctional police officers and investigators so long as they have an underlying correctional police officer or investigator title,” as well as State Parole Board parole officers. The third reprint shows the earlier wording bracketed and the promotional-rank clause inserted. The act also requires the Attorney General to review the Statewide use-of-force policy every even-numbered year, after three regional public hearings, under statutory core principles: sanctity of life, de-escalation first, only objectively reasonable, necessary, and proportional force, deadly force as a last resort, and duties to intervene, render aid, and report. Every use-of-force incident must be reported and published online. Every PTC basic course must include barricaded-individual and mental-health-crisis training. The Officer Ledger page covers the policing provisions. — **For corrections staff:** Sergeants, lieutenants, and other promoted DOC supervisors keep police powers if they hold an underlying correctional police officer or investigator title. — [P.L.2025, c.243](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL25/243_.HTM)[A4175 third reprint](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/A4500/4175_R3.HTM)
- Jan 12, 2026 — **Regional jail authorities may employ correctional police officers outside Civil Service** — P.L.2025, c.253 (A4877), amending P.L.2023, c.346 (N.J.S.A. 40A:67-2 to -12) · Approved January 12, 2026; effective immediately — The amended act now says a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority may “employ correctional police officers and other employees, without regard to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service,” while employees may still enter a collective bargaining agreement. An authority must now be formed by two or more counties, not one or more, and a board of authority commissioners replaces the management committee. The act also amends the bond provisions. — **For corrections staff:** If your county joins a regional authority, the authority can employ you as a correctional police officer outside Civil Service rules, but collective bargaining remains available. — [P.L.2025, c.253](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL25/253_.HTM)
- Nov 18, 2024 — **Throwing bodily fluid at corrections staff: higher grade for serious injury, limits on sample use** — P.L.2024, c.94 (S3201 2R), amending N.J.S.A. 2C:12-13 and 2C:12-1 · Approved November 18, 2024; effective immediately — Throwing a bodily fluid at, or purposely subjecting to contact with a bodily fluid, a Department of Corrections employee, county or juvenile correctional police officer, State juvenile facility employee, juvenile detention staff member, or probation officer, among others, is aggravated assault. The act adds a second-degree grade when the victim suffers serious bodily injury; the offense stays third degree with bodily injury and fourth degree otherwise. Court services officers are added to the protected list. The prison term runs consecutively, and the person charged must give a blood or other sample for communicable-disease testing, by consent or under a Superior Court warrant. New text bars law enforcement from using the sample for any other purpose without a separate warrant, and the sample must be destroyed after testing. — **For corrections staff:** If a bodily-fluid assault causes you serious bodily injury, it is now a second-degree crime, and any positive disease test result is disclosed to you. — [P.L.2024, c.94](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/PL24/94_.HTM)[S3201 second reprint](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2024/S3500/3201_R2.HTM)
- Apr 1, 2024 — **Paid 10-minute shift overlap in State prisons** — P.L.2023, c.196 (S3839), N.J.S.A. 30:1B-6.19 · Approved December 21, 2023; effective on the first day of the fourth month after enactment, April 1, 2024 (computed) — “The commissioner shall institute in each State correctional facility a shift overlap of 10 minutes for the purpose of information dissemination between correctional police officers beginning and ending their shifts.” The act appropriated $13 million to pay Department of Corrections correctional police officers, sergeants, and lieutenants for the overlap at time and one-half. — **For corrections staff:** State correctional police get a paid 10-minute handover at each shift change, paid at time and one-half. — [P.L.2023, c.196](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2022/PL23/196_.HTM)
- Jan 16, 2024 — **Counties may form regional authorities to run jails as rehabilitation and reentry centers** — P.L.2023, c.346 (A5835), Regional Rehabilitation and Reentry Center Authority Act, N.J.S.A. 40A:67-1 et seq. · Approved January 16, 2024; effective immediately — County governing bodies may, by parallel ordinances or resolutions, establish an authority to develop, build, and operate a regional rehabilitation and reentry center under an inter-county agreement approved by the Local Finance Board. The authority may issue bonds, contract for construction or operation of the center, and employ staff without regard to Title 11A, Civil Service, while employees may still bargain collectively. Its budget is funded by taxes apportioned by each county’s average daily population of inmates, and a county that transfers its jail function deducts the cost from its own budget. P.L.2025, c.253 later amended the act (entry above). — **For corrections staff:** A county jail can be transferred to a multi-county authority that is not bound by Civil Service rules for its employees. — [P.L.2023, c.346](https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2022/PL23/346_.HTM)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

No enacted change was found awaiting its effective date. Pending and failed 2024 to 2026 bills on corrections staff were not searched: no bill-search source was queried, and the statutes file dated October 20, 2026 was scanned for 2023 to 2026 history notes instead, which finds only enacted law.

Not verified: the PTC licensing regulations as they apply to correctional police and parole officers, including any rollout schedule and any public list of license actions. The New Jersey Register and Administrative Code were not reached on a free official host.

## Checked and unchanged

- N.J.S.A. 11A:4-15: P.L.2025, c.261 removed the 3-month working test period for political subdivision employees. The 12-month period for entry-level correction officers is unchanged (compared against the A5146 bracketed text).
- Not counted: P.L.2025, c.35 renamed the Juvenile Justice Commission the Youth Justice Commission throughout, including in the 52:17B-67 definition. It is a name change only.