52:4B-54.2 In-service training course on how to handle, investigate, and respond to reports of sexual assault.
1. a. The Division of Criminal Justice shall develop or approve a triennial in-service training course and curriculum specifically for every county prosecutor and each assistant county prosecutor to whom sexual assault cases are assigned on how to appropriately handle, investigate, and respond to reports of sexual assault.
b. The training course and curriculum shall include a component emphasizing the value of restorative justice in sexual assault cases.
c. The division shall make the training course and curriculum available to all county prosecutor's offices in the State.
d. The division shall review the training course and curriculum every five years, in consultation with nationally recognized trainers with expertise in trauma informed care and the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and make any necessary modifications.
e. The division may make the training course and curriculum available in an online format, but prosecutors shall complete the course and curriculum in person every six years.
f. The Attorney General shall be responsible for ensuring that all county prosecutors and appropriate assistant county prosecutors triennially complete the in-service training on handling sexual assault matters required by this section.
g. A county prosecutor or assistant county prosecutor appointed after the effective date of P.L.2021, c.66 (C.52:4B-54.2 et al.) shall complete the training course and curriculum within 60 days of the prosecutor's initial appointment. The division shall determine whether training in the handling of sexual assault cases completed by a prosecutor appointed prior to the effective date of P.L.2021, c.66 (C.52:4B-54.2 et al.) complies with the requirements of this section. If the training does not comply with these requirements, the prosecutor shall complete the training course and curriculum required by this section within 60 days of the effective date of P.L.2021, c.66 (C.52:4B-54.2 et al.).
h. The division shall develop an open process pursuant to which the division will accept bids by organizations to assist in developing and providing the training required by this section.
L.2021, c.66, s.1.