New Jersey § 19:44a-6

§ 19:44a-6.

a. The commission shall appoint a full-time executive director, legal counsel and

hearing officers, all of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the commission and shall

not have tenure by reason of the provisions of chapter 16 of Title 38 of the Revised

Statutes. The commission shall also appoint such other employees as are necessary to carry

out the purposes of this act, which employees shall be in the classified service of

the civil service and shall be appointed in accordance with and shall be subject to

the provisions of Title 11, Civil Service. b. It shall be the duty of the commission to enforce the provisions of this act, to

conduct hearings with regard to possible violations and to impose penalties; and

for the effectual carrying out of its enforcement responsibilities the commission

shall have the authority to initiate a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction

for the purpose of enforcing compliance with the provisions of this act or enjoining

violations thereof or recovering any penalty prescribed by this act. The commission shall promulgate such regulations and official forms and perform

such duties as are necessary to implement the provisions of this act. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the commission is authorized and

empowered to: (1) Develop forms for the making of the required reports; (2) Prepare and publish a manual for all candidates, political committees and continuing

political committees, prescribing the requirements of the law, including uniform methods

of bookkeeping and reporting and requirements as to the length of time that any person

required to keep any records pursuant to the provisions of this act shall retain such

records, or any class or category thereof, or any other documents, including canceled

checks, deposit slips, invoices and other similar documents, necessary for the compilation

of such records; (3) Develop a filing, coding and cross-indexing system; (4) Permit copying or photo-copying of any report required to be submitted pursuant

to this act as requested by any person; (5) Prepare and make available for public inspection summaries of all said reports

grouped according to candidates, parties and issues, containing the total receipts

and expenditures, and the date, name, address and amount contributed by each contributor; (6) Prepare and publish, prior to May 1 of each year, an annual report to the Legislature; (7) Ascertain whether candidates, committees, organizations or others have failed

to file reports or have filed defective reports; extend, for good cause shown, the

dates upon which reports are required to be filed; give notice to delinquents to

correct or explain defects; and make available for public inspection a list of such

delinquents; (8) Ascertain the total expenditures for candidates and determine whether they have

exceeded the limits set forth in this act; notify candidates, committees or others

if they have exceeded or are about to exceed the limits imposed; (9) Hold public hearings, investigate allegations of any violations of this act, and

issue subpenas for the production of documents and the attendance of witnesses; (10) Forward to the Attorney General or to the appropriate county prosecutor information

concerning any violations of this act which may become the subject of criminal prosecution

or which may warrant the institution of other legal proceedings by the Attorney General. c. The commission shall take such steps as may be necessary or appropriate to furnish

timely and adequate information, in appropriate printed summaries and in such other

form as it may see fit, to every candidate or prospective candidate for public office

who becomes or is likely to become subject to the provisions of this act, and to every

treasurer and depository duly designated under the provisions of this act, informing

them of their actual or prospective obligations and responsibilities under this act. Such steps shall include, but not be limited to, furnishing to every person on whose

behalf petitions of nomination are filed for any public office a copy of such printed

summary as aforesaid, which shall be furnished to such person by the commission through

the public official charged with the responsibility of receiving and accepting such

petitions of nomination, at the time when such petitions are filed. The commission shall also make available copies of such printed summary to any other

person requesting the same. The commission shall also take such steps as it may deem necessary or effectual

to disseminate among the general public such information as may serve to guide all

persons who may become subject to the provisions of this act by reason of their participation

in election campaigns or in the dissemination of political information, for the purpose

of facilitating voluntary compliance with the provisions and purposes of this act. In the dissemination of such information, the commission shall to the greatest extent

practicable enlist the cooperation of commercial purveyors, within and without the

State, of materials and services commonly used for political campaign purposes. d. If the nomination for or election to any public office or party position becomes

void under the terms of subsection c. of section 21 of this act 1 , the withholding or revocation of his certificate of election, the omission of his

name from the ballot or the vacation of the office into which he has been inducted

as a result of such void election, as the case may be, shall be subject to the provisions

of chapter 3, articles 2 and 3, of this Title ( R.S.19:3-7 et seq. ). e. The commission shall be assigned suitable quarters for the performance of its duties

hereunder. f. The commission through its legal counsel is authorized to render advisory opinions

as to whether a given set of facts and circumstances would constitute a violation

of any of the provisions of this act, or whether a given set of facts and circumstances

would render any person subject to any of the reporting requirements of this act. Unless an extension of time is consented to by any person requesting an advisory opinion,

the commission shall render its advisory opinion within 10 days of receipt of the

request therefor. Failure of the commission to reply to a request for an advisory opinion within the

time so fixed or agreed to shall preclude it from instituting proceedings for imposition

of a penalty upon any person for a violation of this act arising out of the particular

facts and circumstances set forth in such request, except as such facts and circumstances

may give rise to a violation when taken in conjunction with other facts and circumstances

not set forth in such request. g. The commission shall establish a training program for campaign treasurers and organizational

treasurers and shall make the training program available through its Internet site

within one year of the effective date of this act, P.L.2004, c. 22 . 1

N.J.S.A. § 19:44A-21.