State of New Jersey
Executive Order #3

Governor Christine Todd Whitman

WHEREAS, the State prisons and other penal and correctional institutions of the New Jersey Department of Corrections continue to house populations of inmates in excess of their capacities and remain seriously overcrowded; and

WHEREAS, as of December 1993 the total adult inmate population of State-sentenced prisoners was 23,133, including 3,629 State-sentenced inmates in county jails; and

WHEREAS, the State's adult and youth correctional institutions are currently operating at 133.5 percent of design capacity; and

WHEREAS, these conditions continue to endanger the safety, welfare, and resources of the residents of this State; and

WHEREAS, from June 1981, when Executive Order No. 106 (Byrne) was issued, until this month, the population of State-sentenced prisoners grew from 7,940 to 23,133, exceeding all predictions for inmate population growth and seriously and dangerously taxing all State correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS, the scope of this crisis prevents local governments from safeguarding the people, property, and resources of the State and warrants a centralized management approach to inmate housing assignments; and

WHEREAS, despite the construction of three prisons constructed since the issuance of Executive Order No. 106 (Byrne) and designed for 3,000 inmates and which now house 5,034 inmates at a construction cost of approximately $150 million, expansions of all existing facilities, and the opening of a facility at Fort Dix under a lease agreement with the federal government, the prison population growth has consistently outstripped infrastructure expansion throughout the past decade, exacerbating crisis conditions; and

WHEREAS, efforts are continuing to address the problem, including the planned contruction of a new prison facility to be operational by the end of 1995; and

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 80 (Florio) of January 15, 1993, will expire on January 20, 1994; and

WHEREAS, the conditions specified in Executive Order No. 106 (Byrne) of June 19, 1981, continue to present a substantial likelihood of disaster, and in fact have worsened since that time as the prison population has expanded exponentially; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of New Jersey has determined that executive authority to address these emergency conditions under the Disaster Control Act expires on April 22, 1994;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby declare a continuing state of emergency and ORDER and DIRECT as follows:

1. Executive Order No. 106 (Byrne) of June 19, 1981; No. 108 (Byrne) of September 11, 1981; No. 1 (Kean) of January 20, 1982; No. 8 (Kean) of May 20, 1982; No. 27 (Kean) of January 10, 1983; No. 43 (Kean) of July 15, 1983; No. 60 (Kean) of January 20, 1984; No. 78 (Kean) of July 20, 1984; No. 89 (Kean) of January 18, 1985; No. 127 (Kean) of January 17, 1986; No. 155 (Kean) of January 12, 1987; No. 184 (Kean) of January 4, 1988; No. 202 (Kean) of January 26, 1989; No. 226 (Kean) of January 12, 1990; No. 24 (Florio) of January 18, 1991; No. 52 (Florio) of January 17, 1992, and No. 80 (Florio) of January 15, 1993, shall remain in effect until April 22, 1994, when Executive Order No. 80 (Florio) shall expire in accordance with the judicial order set forth by the New Jersey Supreme Court in County of Gloucester v. State of New Jersey (decided April 22, 1993), except that, so long as the foregoing Orders are in effect, the per diem rate established as a result of Executive Order No. 106 (Byrne) shall be increased as established in P.L.1993, c.155.

2. This Order shall take effect immediately.

GIVEN, under my hand and seal,
this 19th day of January in the Year
of Our Lord, one thousand nine hundred
and ninety-four, and of the Independence
of the United States, the two hundred
and eighteenth.

/s/ Christine Todd Whitman
Governor

Attest:

/s/ Peter Verniero
Chief Counsel to the Governor