§ 2C:12-13 — Throwing bodily fluid at certain law enforcement officers deemed aggravated assault; grading, sentences.

2. A person who throws a bodily fluid at a Department of Corrections employee; county correctional police officer; juvenile correctional police officer; State juvenile facility employee; juvenile detention staff member; probation officer; any sheriff, undersheriff, or sheriff's officer; any municipal, county, or State law enforcement officer; court services officer; a paid or volunteer firefighter; or a person engaged in emergency first-aid or medical services while in the performance of the person's duties or otherwise purposely subjects such employee or volunteer to contact with a bodily fluid commits an aggravated assault. It shall be a crime of the second degree if the victim suffers serious bodily injury. If the victim suffers bodily injury, it shall be a crime of the third degree. Otherwise, this shall be a crime of the fourth degree. A term of imprisonment imposed for this offense shall run consecutively to any term of imprisonment currently being served and to any other term imposed for another offense committed at the time of the assault. Any person charged with assault with a bodily fluid under this section shall have a blood sample drawn or other biological sample collected to test for communicable diseases at a clinical laboratory licensed by the Department of Health pursuant to the "New Jersey Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act," P.L.1975, c.166 (C.45:9-42.26 et seq.), upon consent given by the person charged or in compliance with a warrant issued by a judge of the Superior Court. The court shall issue a warrant upon finding there is probable cause to believe that the person's blood or other bodily fluid came into contact with a victim of the assault and the victim is at risk of transmission of a communicable disease. Upon application, a warrant shall be issued in accordance with the Rules of Court. Any affirmative result for a communicable disease shall be disclosed to the victim. Upon the issuance of a warrant, the blood sample or biological sample taken from a person charged under this section may not be used by law enforcement for any purpose other than to test for communicable diseases. A separate warrant shall be obtained before law enforcement may use the blood sample or biological sample for any other investigatory purpose. After completion of the testing, the blood sample or biological sample shall be destroyed. Nothing herein shall be deemed to preclude, if the evidence so warrants, an indictment and conviction for a violation or attempted violation of chapter 11 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes or subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:12-1 or any other provision of the criminal laws. L.1997, c.182, s.2; amended 1999, c.429; 2003, c.283; 2019, c.219, s.4; 2024, c.94, s.2.