[directive] TO: All Law Enforcement Chief Executives and County Prosecutors  FROM: [...], Acting Attorney General  DATE: May 25, 2022  SUBJECT: Municipal Court Bench Warrants  The vast majority of those who interact with the criminal justice system in New Jersey do so through municipal courts.  These courts adjudicate traffic offenses, local ordinance violations, and disorderly persons offenses, such as shoplifting.  Most municipal court offenses result in the offender owing fines or fees.  If a person fails to appear in municipal court or pay the money they owe, the court can issue a warrant for their arrest, called a bench warrant.  Though the number has decreased significantly in recent years, hundreds of thousands of municipal court bench warrants remain outstanding in New Jersey (as in other states).  If law enforcement encounters an individual with such a warrant, they must arrest that person, even if the underlying offense was a traffic ticket or a similarly minor offense.  Not only is the possibility of arrest at any moment disruptive to a person’s life, it also can heighten the tension surrounding interactions with law enforcement, increasing the possibility of more volatile encounters.  It is therefore in the interest of public safety—indeed, the safety of civilians and officers alike—to limit the disruption created by municipal court warrants for low-level offenses.  This Directive is being issued in conjunction with directive #04-22 of the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), attached, that similarly seeks to achieve this goal.  AOC Directive #04-22 states that all individuals with an outstanding municipal court warrant with a bail amount set at $500 or less that are encountered by law enforcement shall be immediately released on their own recognizance, even if they are unable to post the bail required by the warrant.  The individual must provide updated contact information and receive a new court date, among other things.  Most relevant here, AOC Directive #04-22 gives law enforcement officers the authority to immediately release an individual encountered in these circumstances without contacting or receiving approval from a court.  Accordingly, this Directive provides law enforcement officers with protocols for implementing AOC Directive #04-22 in an efficient manner that best promotes public safety.  Pursuant to this Directive, officers will generally no longer subject individuals New Jersey Is An Equal Opportunity Employer • Printed on Recycled Paper and Recyclable encountered with outstanding municipal court bench warrants with bail amounts of $500 or less to a custodial arrest—those individuals will be given notice of a new court date and released on scene.  Therefore, pursuant to the authority granted to me under the New Jersey Constitution and the Criminal Justice Act of 1970, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-97 to -117, which provides for the general supervision of criminal justice by the Attorney General as chief law enforcement officer of the State in order to secure the benefits of a uniform and efficient enforcement of the criminal law and the administration of criminal justice throughout the State, I hereby direct all law enforcement and prosecuting agencies operating under the authority of the laws of the State of New Jersey to implement and comply with the directives outlined below.