State should not take over county prosecutor’s office

Sean T. K ean

Guest Column

Legislation that would have the state assume the costs of operating the county prosecutor’s office is not only ill conceived – it could be downright dangerous for the residents of Monmouth County.

The purpose of S-1007/A-1304, sponsored by Essex County legislators Sen. Richard Codey and Assemblyman John McKeon, seems rather simple – have the state assume the costs of operating the county prosecutor’s office that exist in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.

Although at first glance this proposal may seem rather benign, the results are far-reaching and costly in many ways.

Currently, each county’s prosecutor’s office, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes that occur in that county, is paid for by county property taxes and accountable to the citizens of that county. Most importantly, each county prosecutor’s office is managed by local officials who can adjust funding, resources and programs to suit their county’s individual needs. Under this measure, the state would not just take over responsibility for funding these offices; it would also assume actual control of their operations as well.

Despite claims that this proposal would help county officials to lower county property taxes, the reality is that the cost of running individual prosecutor’s offices in most of New Jersey is relatively small. In fact, of all county expenditures in New Jersey, just 4.7 percent is associated with operating prosecutors’ offices. Should the state assume this expense; the average county would achieve minimal savings and county property tax cuts would be unlikely.

The real purpose of the legislation is not to cut county taxes. As explicitly written in the legislation itself, its purpose is to correct so-called funding inequities among the counties, which the sponsors claim have differing abilities to fund their own prosecutor’s offices.

Effectively, the sponsors want to funnel taxes paid by residents in suburban areas, like Monmouth County, to urban areas like Newark and Camden where, they believe, residents cannot afford the same level of services that residents of suburban and rural counties receive.

It’s not just tax dollars that are at risk of being diverted elsewhere. The legislation would also allow the state to transfer investigators and prosecutors between offices to fix these so-called “inequities.”

Not only would a county such as Monmouth likely lose a substantial amount of funding for its prosecutor’s office, the office itself would likely lose experienced investigators and prosecutors, as they are reassigned to areas like Newark, Camden and Jersey City, which would likely be found to have a “greater need.”

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, which has continually proven itself more than capable of protecting and serving the people of our county, risks losing both funding and manpower. Monmouth County residents risk increased crime rates as a result.

For example, the County Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT) made more than 600 drug-related arrests in Monmouth County during the last six months. This team is a joint effort between county detectives and local police departments. Losing autonomy over the control of these efforts to eradicate drug activity in our county would be devastating.

For the people of Monmouth County, this proposal can only be viewed as a dangerous ploy to send Monmouth County residents’ hard-earned tax dollars to other parts of the state.

Sean T. Kean is an assemblyman (D-11) and a resident of Wall Township