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Read. Follow. Verify.New Jersey Bill A397 Creates First-Degree Home Invasion Crime and Upgrades Residential Burglary
Last action · January 13, 2026: Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary CommitteeSponsors: Flynn, Victoria A. and 3 others
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What This Bill Would Do
New Jersey Bill A397 establishes the new first-degree crime of home invasion carrying a mandatory prison term of 10 to 30 years, automatically upgrades residential burglaries where someone is present to a second-degree crime, and mandates that juvenile carjacking and home invasion cases be tried in the county where the offense occurred.
Residents face significantly harsher criminal penalties and mandatory minimum prison sentences for unlawful entries into occupied dwellings, while juvenile defendants accused of specific violent property offenses lose the option of transfer to their home county.
- New Jersey bills designated with an 'A' prefix originate in the General Assembly, the lower house of the state legislature. context
- Title 2C of the New Jersey Revised Statutes contains the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Individuals accused of burglary or home invasion
Defendants face higher felony gradations, mandatory minimum prison terms of 10 years for home invasion, and elimination of lack-of-knowledge defenses regarding residential occupancy.
Juvenile defendants facing carjacking or home invasion charges
Juveniles are restricted from having their delinquency proceedings transferred to their county of residence and must face trial where the incident occurred.
Residents of New Jersey
Legal protections and criminal classifications regarding home invasions and residential burglaries are altered to establish stricter statutory penalties.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What constitutes a home invasion under Bill A397?
What is the penalty for home invasion?
Does an offender need to know someone is home for a burglary to be upgraded?
Where will juvenile offenders accused of carjacking be tried under this bill?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Jan 13, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Venue Restriction for Juveniles
The bill removes flexibility in juvenile venue selection by forcing trials for carjacking and home invasion into the county of the incident, overriding standard practices that allowed venue changes based on juvenile residence.
Connected Entities
Sources
njleg.state.nj.us
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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