2C:41-5. Investigative interrogatories

a. Whenever the Attorney General determines that there exists a reasonable suspicion that any person or enterprise may have information or be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary materials relevant to an investigation under this chapter, or whenever the Attorney General believes it to be in the public interest that an investigation be made pursuant to this chapter, he may, prior to the institution of a civil or criminal proceeding thereon, issue in writing, and cause to be served upon the person, an investigative interrogatory requiring him to answer and produce material for examination.

b. Each interrogatory shall:

(1) State the nature of the conduct constituting the alleged violation which is under investigation and the provision of law applicable thereto;

(2) Advise the person that he has the right to discuss the interrogatory with legal counsel prior to returning it to the Attorney General or prior to making material available as provided hereinafter in subsection f. and that he has the right to file in Superior Court a petition to modify or set aside the interrogatory pursuant to subsection j. hereinafter;

(3) Describe the class or classes of documentary material to be produced thereunder with such specificity and certainty as to permit the material to be fairly identified;

(4) Prescribe a return date which will provide a reasonable period of time within which answers may be made and material so demanded may be assembled and made available for inspection and copying or reproduction as provided hereinafter in subsection f.

c. No interrogatory shall:

(1) Contain any requirement which would be held to be unreasonable if contained in a subpena duces tecum issued in aid of a grand jury investigation; or

(2) Require the production of any documentary evidence which would be otherwise privileged from disclosure if demanded by a subpena duces tecum issued in aid of a grand jury investigation.

d. Service of any interrogatory filed under this section may be made upon a person by:

(1) Delivering a duly executed copy thereof to any partner, executive officer, managing agent, or general agent thereof, or to any agent thereof authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process on behalf of the person, or upon any individual person; or

(2) Delivering a duly executed copy thereof to the principal office or place of business of the person to be served; or

(3) Depositing a copy in the United States mail, by registered or certified mail duly addressed to the person at his principal office or place of business.

e. A verified return by the individual serving any interrogatory, setting forth the manner of service shall be prima facie proof of service. In the case of service by registered or certified mail, the return shall be accompanied by the return post office receipt of delivery of the interrogatory.

f. Any person upon whom any interrogatory issued under this section has been duly served which requires the production of materials shall make the material available for inspection and copying or reproduction to the Attorney General at the principal place of business of that person in the State of New Jersey or at such other place as the Attorney General and the person thereafter may agree and prescribe in writing, on the return date specified in the interrogatory or on a later date as the Attorney General may prescribe in writing. Upon written agreement between the person and the Attorney General, copies may be substituted for all or any part of the original materials. The Attorney General may cause the preparation of any copies of documentary material as may be required for official use by the Attorney General.

No material produced pursuant to this section shall be available for examination, without the consent of the person who produced the material, by an individual other than the Attorney General or any person retained by the Attorney General in connection with the enforcement of this act. Under reasonable terms and conditions as the Attorney General shall prescribe, documentary material while in his possession shall be available for examination by the person who produced the material or any duly authorized representatives of the person.

In any case or proceeding involving any alleged violation of this chapter, the Attorney General may present before any court or Grand Jury, any such documentary material in his possession pursuant to this section subject to any protective order deemed proper by the Superior Court.

Any person who shall disclose to any person other than the Attorney General or a person retained by the Attorney General as set forth above, the name of any person who receives an investigative interrogatory or any information obtained pursuant thereto, except in proceedings involving an alleged violation of this chapter and except as so directed by the Attorney General shall be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.

g. Upon completion of:

(1) The review and investigation for which any documentary material was produced under this section, and

(2) Any case or proceeding arising from the investigation, the Attorney General shall return to the person who produced the material all the material other than copies thereof made by the Attorney General pursuant to this section which has not passed into the control of any court or grand jury through the introduction thereof into the record of the case or proceeding.

h. When any documentary material has been produced by any person under this section for use in any racketeering investigation, and no case or proceeding arising therefrom has been instituted within 2 years after completion of the examination and analysis of all evidence assembled in the course of the investigation, the person shall be entitled, upon written demand made upon the Attorney General, to the return of all documentary material other than copies thereof made pursuant to this section so produced by the person.

i. Whenever any person fails to comply with any investigative interrogatory duly served upon him under this section or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material cannot be done and the person refuses to surrender the material, the Attorney General may file in the Superior Court a petition for an order of the court for the enforcement of this section.

j. At any time before the return date specified in the interrogatory, such person may file in the Superior Court a petition for an order modifying or setting aside the interrogatory. The time allowed for compliance of the interrogatory, in whole or in part as deemed proper and ordered by the court, shall not run during the pendency of such petition in the court. The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief, and may be based upon any failure of the interrogatory to comply with the provisions of this section or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of the petitioner. In such proceeding the Attorney General shall establish the existence of an investigation pursuant to this chapter and the nature and subject matter of the investigation.

L.1981, c. 167, s. 2, eff. June 15, 1981.