| (a) Issuance of an Arrest Warrant When Law Enforcement Applicant is Physically Before the Judicial Officer. An arrest warrant for an initial charge shall be made on a Complaint-Warrant (CDR-2) form. The warrant shall contain the defendant's name or if that is unknown, any name or description that identifies the defendant with reasonable certainty, and shall be directed to any officer authorized to execute it, ordering that the defendant be arrested and remanded to the county jail pending a determination of conditions of pretrial release. The warrant shall be signed by a judicial officer, which for these purposes shall be defined as the judge, clerk, deputy clerk, authorized municipal court administrator, or authorized deputy municipal court administrator.
(b) Issuance of and Procedures for an Arrest Warrant When Law Enforcement Applicant is Not Physically Before the Judicial Officer. A judicial officer may issue an arrest warrant on sworn oral testimony of a law enforcement applicant who is not physically present. Such sworn oral testimony may be communicated by the applicant to the judicial officer by telephone, radio or other means of electronic communication. The judicial officer shall administer the oath to the applicant. Subsequent to taking the oath, the applicant must identify himself or herself, and read verbatim the Complaint-Warrant (CDR-2) and any supplemental affidavit that establishes probable cause for the issuance of an arrest warrant. If the facts necessary to establish probable cause are contained entirely on the Complaint-Warrant (CDR-2) and/or supplemental affidavit, the judicial officer need not make a contemporaneous written or electronic recordation of the facts in support of probable cause. If the law enforcement officer provides additional sworn oral testimony in support of probable cause, the judicial officer shall contemporaneously record such sworn oral testimony by means of a recording device, if available; otherwise, adequate notes summarizing the contents of the law enforcement applicant's testimony shall be made by the judicial officer. This sworn testimony shall be deemed to be an affidavit, or a supplemental affidavit, for the purposes of issuance of an arrest warrant. An arrest warrant may issue if the judicial officer is satisfied that probable cause exists for issuing the warrant. On approval, the judicial officer shall memorialize the date, time, defendant's name, complaint number, the basis for the probable cause determination and any other specific terms of the authorization. That memorialization shall be either by means of a recording device, or by adequate notes. If the judicial officer has determined that a warrant shall issue and has the ability to promptly access the Judiciary’s computer system, the judicial officer shall electronically issue the Complaint-Warrant (CDR-2) in the computer system. If the judicial officer has determined that a warrant shall issue and does not have the ability to promptly access the Judiciary’s computer system, the judicial officer shall direct the applicant, pursuant to procedures prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts, to enter into the Judiciary computer system, for inclusion on the electronic complaint, the date and time of the probable cause and warrant determinations. The judicial officer shall also direct the applicant to complete the required certification and activate the complaint. The court shall verify, as soon as practicable, any warrant authorized under this subsection and activated by law enforcement. Remand to the county jail and a pretrial release decision are not contingent upon completion of this verification. Procedures authorizing issuance of restraining orders pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5.7 ("Drug Offender Restraining Order Act of 1999") and N.J.S.A. 2C:14-12 ("Nicole's Law") by electronic communication are governed by R. 3:26-1(e).
Note: Adopted July 13, 1994 to be effective January 1, 1995; original text of rule amended and designated as paragraph (a) and new paragraph (b) added July 28, 2004 to be effective September 1, 2004; paragraph (b) amended July 9, 2013 to be effective September 1, 2013; paragraphs (a) and (b) captions added and text amended August 30, 2016 to be effective January 1, 2017.
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