As reported by nj.com, State Attorney General Jeffrey Chisea made his case for the Department of Law and Public Safety’s proposed $958 million budget, which includes money for new State Police recruits and hundreds of patrol vehicles. The budget, proposed by Governor Chris Christie in February, also includes money for the State Police to hire more civilians to take over administrative tasks done by enlisted troopers so they can be reassigned tot eh field to bolster ranks thinned by retirements.

Overall, the proposed budget represents a 4 percent decrease from the current year and a 9 percent decrease from fiscal year 2011. In terms of state support for the department, it will receive about the same as the current year and about 12 percent less than 2011. 

“The scope of our department’s mission is vast, and the challenges are many,” Chisea, who was previously Christie’s chief counsel, told the Assembly Budget Committee. “But our commitment is to meet the challenges, and to do it while spending prudently.”

The budget includes $3.3 million for the first of two new State Police classes of recruits planned for 2013. The classes will begin with 150 recruits and cost about $3.5 million each, according to the budget. About 115 recruits are expected to graduate.   

Facing a wave of retirements, the State Police expects its ranks to continue to thin during the next year. According to projections, the division could have 2,276 troopers by the end of the fiscal year 2013, the lowest number in more than a decade. 

In addition, the division expects to purchase 250 new vehicles next fiscal year in addition to the 311 purchased during the current fiscal year. Nearly 40 percent of State Police vehicles have more than 125,000 miles on them, Chisea said.

Lawmakers questioned Chisea about his department’s use of private law firms to supplement its lawyers. The Division of Law paid about $21.6 million for help from outside firms in 2011, about the same as last year and down from $26.5 million in 2008. “I understand that we need to be vigilant about watching those bills,” Chisea said. He added that a new electronic billing system put into place last year identified about $748,000 in invalid invoices from law firms.

Many private firms with close ties to Christie have seen spikes in business from the Division of Law since the Republican governor took office. It’s not uncommon for new administrations, both Republican and Democrat, to shift state legal work to friends and allies.

Tags: Articles, Attorney General, budget, Chisea, Christie, NJ Police, NJ Public Safety Officers, NJ State Police, NJSP, public safety budget
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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