Court Opinion

ID: 9919413
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-18 15:05:55.472787+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:06:10.667599
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
                               APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
        This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
     internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

                                                        SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
                                                        APPELLATE DIVISION
                                                        DOCKET NO. A-3935-21

CHARLES WILLIAMS,

          Appellant,

v.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT
OF CORRECTIONS,

     Respondent.
______________________________

                   Submitted December 12, 2023 – Decided January 18, 2024

                   Before Judges Whipple and Mayer.

                   On appeal from the New Jersey Department of
                   Corrections.

                   Charles Williams, appellant pro se.

                   Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General, attorney for
                   respondent (Janet Greenberg Cohen, Assistant Attorney
                   General, of counsel; Andrew Carter Matlack, Deputy
                   Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM
      Petitioner Charles Williams, a pro se litigant, is currently incarcerated at

the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center (ADTC) in Avenel, New Jersey. He

filed this matter titled as a Notice of Appeal and An Action in Lieu of a

Prerogative Writ of Mandamus seeking to compel the New Jersey Department

of Corrections (DOC) to appoint a Board of Trustees to the ADTC.

      Williams's complaint is that the DOC has not appointed members to the

Board of Trustees in violation of N.J.S.A. 30:4-1. According to the record

provided by petitioner, in October 2021, Williams was co-signatory on a letter

to the Governor and Acting Commissioner, among others, requesting that a

Board of Trustees be appointed for the ADTC. In November 2021, Williams

submitted online inquiries to a DOC portal, asking why a Board of Trustees had

not been appointed to the ADTC and seeking assistance in rectifying the

situation.   Assistant Superintendent of ADTC Crystal Raupp responded to

Williams, stating that the "matter was addressed," and Williams was provided

"an appropriate response."    Williams submitted a follow-up inquiry, citing

N.J.S.A. 30:4-1.

      Williams politely asked for reconsideration, noting the Board of Trustees

has "a broad range of supervisory responsibilities outlined in N.J.S.A. 30:4-1.1,

including to 'review institutional needs' and to 'exercise visitorial supervision

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over the institution under the supervision or control of the department.'" The

appointment of a Board of Trustees would also allow the inmate welfare funds

to be utilized in accordance with N.J.S.A. 30:4-1.l(k), something Williams

asserted had not been done in over ten years. Raupp responded succinctly that

Williams’ concern had been noted. Williams then filed this appeal.

       Unfortunately, we cannot compel the DOC to appoint trustees.           The

authority to appoint a Board of Trustees to the ADTC no longer rests with the

DOC.

       N.J.S.A. 30:4-1 provides, "[t]he State board, with the approval of the

Governor, shall appoint a board of trustees . . . ." Prior to the establishment of

the DOC in 1976, the State Board of Human Services in the Department of

Human Services (DHS) was tasked with managing correctional facilities and

overseeing the appointments of their Boards of Trustees. See N.J.S.A. 30:4-1

and L. 1971, c. 384. After the establishment of the DOC, numerous powers were

conferred to the Commissioner of the DOC, including the powers of the "State

Board." L. 1976, c. 98, § 21 (codified at N.J.S.A. 30:1B-21). However, on

January 17, 2014, Governor Christopher Christie signed into law L. 2013, c.

253, which—among other things—repealed N.J.S.A. 30:1B-21.               With the

passage of this law, neither the DOC nor the DOC's Commissioner retained the

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                                        3
powers of the "State Board," including the power to appoint a Board of Trustees

to any of the prisons, including the ADTC. N.J.S.A. 30:1-2.3a(a).

      Accordingly, the duty Williams seeks to enforce is no longer vested with

the DOC, nor with the Commissioner of the DOC, and we dismiss the appeal.

      Dismissed.

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