Contact YOUR STATE SENATOR and REPRESENTATIVE and ask them to
Co-Sponsor HB 6529 an Act Concerning Justices of the Peace
Please take a few minutes to call or email your Senator and Representative and ask them to cosponsor HB6529. This is the bill that addresses our concerns about JP appointments and qualifications.
Step One:
- Look up your State Representative and Senator here. Follow the link to get their phone number and/or email address.
- Call or send your State Representative and Senator an email asking them to cosponsor HB6529. Be sure to copy JPus on the email to let us know that you reached out to your legislators so that we can follow-up, too.
See talking points and sample e-mail language below. Please include your experiences so your legislators will recognize that this legislation is important to you — especially if you have been negatively affected by the current system.
See talking points and sample e-mail language below.
Step Two:
Be on the lookout for more information about a public hearing. We will want as many JPs as possible to testify. More info on that coming soon.
Current Situation:
The bill, HB6529, An Act Concerning Justices of the Peace, would:
- authorize municipal legislative bodies to fill vacancies in unaffiliated justice of the peace positions,
- require the Secretary of the State to oversee training and certification of justices of the peace and
- establish a task force to examine issues related to justices of the peace.
If passed, this legislation would create a roadmap to resolve the problems identified in JPus’ 2023 white paper.
Sample E-mail
Please remember to EDIT AND CUSTOMIZE and please copy [email protected] on the message.
Find your State Representative and Senator.
Dear (fill in the blank with your Senator or Representative’s name)
I am a (fill in the blank with Justice of the Peace or Town Clerk) in (Write your town).
Please cosponsor HB 6529, an Act Concerning Justices of the Peace. This much-needed bill will
- authorize municipal legislative bodies to fill vacancies in unaffiliated justice of the peace positions,
- require the Secretary of the State to oversee training and certification of justices of the peace and
- establish a task force to examine issues related to justices of the peace.
This bill will resolve problems that I have experienced. It is important to me.
Please feel free to contact me or Loretta Jay, the managing member of the Justice of the Peace Association, copied on this message, to discuss the details. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Key findings of JPus’ 2023 research
- Systemic unfairness in appointment process: Favoritism, inequality between political parties, lack of portability between towns.
- Disparity between municipalities: Three different rules are used to determine how many JP slot are available in each city or town.
- No training requirement: This creates opportunity for nonfeasance, jeopardizing the legality of marriages and quality of services to the public. Trained JPs are partners to recognize forced marriage and human trafficking and marriage fraud. Thus, they are another team member to protect our most vulnerable.
Related Links
- The Justice of the Peace Association’s white paper
- The legislative backstory.
- JPus 2023 Managing Member’s testimony to the Planning and Development Committee that summarizes the problem.