319.03 Fleeing Felons (FSM)

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An individual who is fleeing to avoid prosecution or custody for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, that would be classified as a felony (or a high misdemeanor in New Jersey) is not eligible for SNAP benefits and is considered an ineligible household member.

To establish that an individual is a fleeing felon, the following must be verified:

·         There is an outstanding felony warrant for the individual by a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, and the underlying cause for the warrant is for committing or attempting to commit a crime that is a felony under the law of the place from which the individual is fleeing (or a high misdemeanor under the law of New Jersey);

·         The individual is aware of, or should reasonably have been able to expect that, the felony warrant has already or would have been issued;

·         The individual has taken some action to avoid being arrested or jailed; and

·         The Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency is actively seeking the individual.

Authorities are considered to be actively seeking the individual if:

·         A Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency informs the Department that it intends to enforce an outstanding felony warrant within 20 days of submitting a request for information about the individual to the Department; or

·         A Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency states that it intends to enforce an outstanding felony warrant within 30 days of the date of a request from the Department about a specific outstanding felony warrant.

The law enforcement agency is given 20 days to respond and indicate if they intend to actively pursue the individual.

·         If the law enforcement agency does not indicate that it intends to enforce the felony warrant within 30 days of the request for information, the individual will not be considered a fleeing felon. This must be clearly documented in case comments.

·         If the law enforcement agency indicates that it does intend to enforce the felony warrant within 30 days, postpone any action on the case until the 30-day period is over.

§  Once the 30-day period is over, verify with the law enforcement agency if they have attempted to execute the felony warrant. If they have, the individual is ineligible for SNAP. If they have not, do not consider the individual to be a fleeing felon.

Continue to process the application while awaiting verification of fleeing felon status. If action must be taken on the case in order to meet processing timeframes, prior to determining fleeing felon status, process the application without consideration of potential fleeing felon status.

References: He-W 734.02(a); 7 CFR 273.11(n); 7 USC 2015(k)