Attorney's Note

Under the New Jersey Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
crime of the second degreebetween 5 and 10 yearsup to $150,000
crime of the third degreebetween 3 and 5 yearsup to $15,000
crime of the fourth degreeup to 18 monthsup to $10,000
For details, see N.J. Rev. Stat.2C:43-6

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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 2C:33-14.1

  • act of graffiti: means the drawing, painting or making any mark or inscription on public or private real or personal property without the permission of the owner. See New Jersey Statutes 2C:33-24
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
1. a. Any person who purposely, knowingly or recklessly defaces, damages, obstructs, removes or otherwise impairs the operation of any railroad crossing warning signal or protection device, including, but not limited to safety gates, electric bell, electric sign or any other alarm or protection system authorized by the Commissioner of Transportation, which is required under the provisions of R.S.48:12-54 or R.S.48:2-29, or any other railroad property or equipment, other than administrative buildings, offices or equipment, shall, for a first offense, be guilty of a crime of the fourth degree; however, if the defacement, damage, obstruction, removal or impediment of the crossing warning signal or protection device, property or equipment recklessly causes bodily injury or pecuniary loss of $2000 or more, the actor is guilty of a crime of the third degree, or if it recklessly causes a death or serious bodily injury, the actor is guilty of a crime of the second degree.

b. A person convicted of a violation of this section that involves an act of graffiti may, in addition to any other penalty imposed by the court, be required to pay to the owner of the damaged property monetary restitution in the amount of the pecuniary damage caused by the act of graffiti and to perform community service, which shall include removing the graffiti from the property, if appropriate. If community service is ordered, it shall be for either not less than 20 days or not less than the number of days necessary to remove the graffiti from the property. As used in this section, “act of graffiti” means the drawing, painting or making of any mark or inscription on public or private real or personal property without the permission of the owner.

L.1991, c.335, s.1; amended 1998, c.54, s.2; 2001, c.413, s.3.