52:27EE-86 Department of the Public Advocate abolished.

1. a. The Department of the Public Advocate created by P.L.2005, c.155 (C.52:27EE-1 et al.) is abolished as a principal department in the Executive Branch of State Government and all of its functions, powers and duties, except as otherwise provided in this act, are hereby terminated.

b. The offices and terms of the Public Advocate, and of the assistants, deputies, and directors of the various divisions and offices of the Department of the Public Advocate, except as otherwise provided in this act, are hereby terminated.

c. Regulations of the Department of the Public Advocate concerning its organization, function, practice, and procedure are void. Except as otherwise provided in this act, whenever in any law, rule, regulation, order, reorganization plan, contract, document, judicial or administrative proceeding, or otherwise, reference is made to the Department of the Public Advocate, the same shall mean and refer to the Office of the Public Defender in, but not of, the Department of the Treasury.

d. All communications between an individual client and an attorney in or engaged by the Department of the Public Advocate shall remain fully protected by the attorney-client privilege subsequent to the effective date of this act. The confidentiality of medical records and other documents maintained as confidential by the Department of the Public Advocate shall likewise be protected subsequent to the effective date of this act. Any record held by the department that includes information about the identity, care, or treatment of any person seeking or receiving services from the department, or the identity of any person seeking services from the department on behalf of another person, shall not be a government record as defined in section 1 of P.L.1995, c.23 (C.47:1A-1.1) and shall not be available for public inspection, copying, or the purchase of copies. Any person acting reasonably and in good faith who sought assistance from the department on behalf of another person shall be immune from civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to testimony given in any judicial proceeding resulting from that request for assistance.

e. This act shall not affect the tenure, compensation, and pension rights, if any, of the holder of a position not specifically abolished herein in office upon the effective date of this act, nor alter the term of a member of a board, commission, or public body, not specifically abolished herein, in office on the effective date of this act, or require the reappointment thereof.

f. The provisions of this act in and of themselves shall not be construed to create any new cause of action, or to authorize any suit against any public entity or employee.

g. Acts and parts of acts inconsistent with any of the provisions of this act are, to the extent of such inconsistency, superseded and repealed.

h. This act shall be subject to the provisions of the "State Agency Transfer Act," P.L.1971, c.375 (C.52:14D-1 et seq.).

i. The Governor may take such action by Executive Order, or other formal redesignation document, for the purpose of designating a private entity as the State's protection and advocacy agency for persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities.

j. The responsibility for all cases pending on the effective date of this act in which the Department of the Public Advocate is a party handled by divisions or offices being abolished shall be assumed by the Office of the Public Defender, unless the Public Defender, exercising discretion, determines that there are not sufficient resources to continue any particular litigation. In assuming responsibility for such cases, the Public Defender shall be bound by the terms of any orders, judgments, determinations, or settlements in the same manner as its predecessor the Department of the Public Advocate.

k. The Office of the Public Defender may take such actions as the Governor may by Executive Order, or other formal redesignation document, authorize for the purpose of coordinating and cooperating with any private entity designated by the Governor as the State's mental health protection and advocacy agency and protection and advocacy agency for persons with developmental disabilities.

L.2010, c.34, s.1.