N.J. Stat. tit. 36, ch. 1

N.J. Stat. tit. 36, ch. 1
in effect

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-1 Legal holidays.

36:1-1. a. The following days in each year shall, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the presenting for payment or acceptance, and of the protesting and giving notice of dishonor, of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes be treated and considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays, except as provided under subsection d. of this section: January 1, known as New Year's Day; the third Monday in January, known as Martin Luther King's Birthday; February 12, known as Lincoln's Birthday; the third Monday in February, known as Washington's Birthday; the day designated and known as Good Friday; the last Monday in May, known as Memorial Day; the third Friday in June, Juneteenth Day; July 4, known as Independence Day; the first Monday in September, known as Labor Day; the second Monday in October, known as Columbus Day; November 11, known as Armistice Day or Veterans' Day; the fourth Thursday in November, known as Thanksgiving Day; December 25, known as Christmas Day; any general election day in this State; every Saturday; and any day heretofore or hereafter appointed, ordered or recommended by the Governor of this State, or the President of the United States, as a day of fasting and prayer, or other religious observance, or as a bank holiday or holidays. All such bills, checks and notes, otherwise presentable for acceptance or payment on any of the days herein enumerated, shall be deemed to be payable and be presentable for acceptance or payment on the secular or business day next succeeding any such holiday. b. Whenever any of the days herein enumerated can and shall fall on a Sunday, the Monday next following shall, for any of the purposes herein enumerated be deemed a public holiday, except as provided under subsection d. of this section; and bills of exchange, checks and promissory notes which otherwise would be presentable for acceptance or payment on such Monday shall be deemed to be presentable for acceptance or payment on the secular or business day next succeeding such holiday. c. In construing this section, every Saturday shall, until 12 o'clock noon, be deemed a secular or business day, except as is hereinbefore provided in regard to bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes, and the days herein enumerated except bank holidays and Saturdays shall be considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and public holidays, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the transaction of business in the public offices of this State, or counties of this State, except as provided under subsection d. of this section; but on all other days or half days, except Sunday or as otherwise provided by law, such offices shall be kept open for the transaction of business. d. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections a. through c. of this section, when the provisions of this subsection take effect, the following day each calendar year shall not be considered a public holiday for the purposes of conducting State government business: February 12, known as Lincoln's Birthday. All public offices of State government in this State shall be open on this day for the transaction of business. amended 1938, c.115; 1940, c.85; 1942, c.123; 1946, c.55; 1947, c.10; 1955, c.21; 1969, c.132, s.1; 1974, c.179; 1977, c.65; 1984, c.97; 2008, c.89, s.26; 2020, c.76, s.2.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-1.1 Saturdays public holidays

Each Saturday in each year shall, for all purposes whatsoever as regards the transaction of business in the public offices of this State, and the counties and municipalities in this State, be considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays. L.1946, c. 129, p. 609, s. 1. Amended by L.1954, c. 196, p. 729, s. 1; L.1955, c. 196, p. 774, s. 1, eff. Aug. 5, 1955.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-1.2 Legal holiday on Saturday; preceding Friday deemed to be holiday.

1. Whenever any legal holiday enumerated in R.S.36:1-1 other than Saturday, and other than those days enumerated under subsection d. of R.S.36:1-1, can and shall fall on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be deemed to be said holiday for State employees, and the public offices of the State government shall be closed for the transaction of business. L.1978, c.135, s.1; amended 2008, c.89. s.27.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-2 Transaction of business on holidays

36:1-2. Transaction of business on holidays. Any person or corporation, including without limitation a bank, trust company, banking institution and savings and loan association, may transact either private or public business in this State on any designated holiday, in the same manner as on any other day of the week on which it is lawful to transact such business. Amended 1988,c.34,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-3 Sales of real and personal property on designated holidays

36:1-3. Sales of real and personal property on designated holidays. Any sale of real or personal property made by any public officer, or by any citizen of this State, on any designated holiday, shall be as valid as though such sale was made on any other day of the week on which it is lawful to sell and transfer real or personal property. Amended 1988,c.34,s.2.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-4 Transactions by certain financial institutions after 12 o'clock noon on Saturdays and public holidays

36:1-4. Transactions by certain financial institutions after 12 o'clock noon on Saturdays and public holidays. The payment, certification or acceptance of any check or other negotiable instrument or any other transaction by any bank or trust company, banking institution or savings and loan association shall not be void or voidable or invalid because done or performed on a day designated in R.S. 36:1-1 as a public holiday, including Saturday between 12 o'clock noon and midnight, if such payment, certification, acceptance or other transaction would be valid if done or performed at a time or on a day which is not designated as a public holiday. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to compel any bank or trust company, banking institution or savings and loan association to keep open, or to perform any of the acts or transactions aforesaid, on any Saturday after 12 o'clock noon or on any day designated as a public holiday except at its own option. Amended 1988, c. 34, s. 3.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-5 Mother's day

For the purpose of paying a special tribute to mothers, the second Sunday of May in each year is designated as a day for the general observance of that purpose and shall be known as Mother's Day. L.1944, c. 116, p. 319, s. 1, eff. April 13, 1944.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-6 Father's day

For the purpose of paying a special tribute to fathers, the third Sunday of June in each year is designated as a day for the general observance of that purpose and shall be known as Father's Day. L.1944, c. 116, p. 319, s. 2, eff. April 13, 1944.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-8 Volunteer Fireman's day

For the purpose of paying special tribute to volunteer firemen, the second Sunday of January in each year is designated for the general observance of that purpose and shall be known as "Volunteer Fireman's Day." L.1978, c. 28, s. 1, eff. June 5, 1978.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-9 Volunteer first aid and rescue squad day

For the purpose of paying special tribute to volunteer first aid and rescue squads, the third Sunday in January in each year is designated for the general observance of that purpose and shall be known as "Volunteer First Aid and Rescue Squad Day." L.1981, c. 84, s. 1, eff. March 25, 1981.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-10 Legislative findings and declaration

The Legislature finds and declares: a. That the tenth day of June marks the anniversary of one of the most heinous criminal acts in the history of Western civilization, the brutal extermination of the peaceful village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia by the barbaric members of the Nazi security police on June 10, 1942. b. On that dark day in 1942 every male resident of Lidice over the age of 16 was murdered; all of the women were condemned to the dreaded Ravensbrueck concentration camp; four pregnant women were taken to a maternity hospital where their newly born children were murdered; and all of the surviving children of Lidice were sent outside of Czechoslovakia and dispersed. c. After the people of Lidice had been so thoroughly savaged, the Nazi security police turned their perverted fury on the village itself, first burning it, then dynamiting the ruins, and finally leveling the site of the village to the ground. d. This barbarous act of depravity so aroused the wrath of the world, that towns and villages in many countries renamed themselves Lidice so that the memory of that peaceful little village might be preserved. e. It is the firm belief of this Legislature that the memory of the hideous outrage that was committed against Lidice must not be allowed to fade, lest a similar fate befall other communities. L.1983, c. 210, s. 1, eff. June 10, 1983.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-11 Lidice memorial day; designation

The tenth day of June in each year is designated as Lidice Memorial Day in honor of the innocent victims of the Nazi outrage that was committed against Lidice, Czechoslovakia. The Governor of the State is requested annually to call on the people of the world to remember the fate of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, and to honor the memory of the innocent victims of the brutal outrage that was committed on June 10, 1942. L.1983, c. 210, s. 2, eff. June 10, 1983.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-12 Findings, declarations relative to Kristallnacht

1. The Legislature finds and declares: a. On the night of November 9-10, 1938, organized gangs of Nazi Gestapo agents instigated a horrible wave of wanton destruction aimed at Jews, Jewish synagogues, homes and shops in almost every town and city in Germany; b. That night, Kristallnacht - "The Night of Broken Glass," witnessed some of the most brutal acts of intentional savagery ever committed by a sovereign government against a religious minority; c. This barbaric and unprecedented event was coordinated and stimulated by the Gestapo, the dreaded secret police of Adolph Hitler and his tyrannical Nazi government which ruled Germany, for the express purpose of burning Jewish synagogues, destroying Jewish property and arresting as many Jews as possible; d. The gruesome pogrom resulted in the burning of 119 synagogues, of which 76 were completely destroyed; the destruction or looting of 7,500 Jewish shops and homes; and the death of at least 36 Jews and the serious injury of at least 36 more; e. On that same night of horror, 20,000 Jews were systematically rounded up "for their own protection" and sent to the heinous concentration camps of Dachau, Oranienburg-Sachenhausen and Buchenwald where their heads were shaven and they were forced to wear coarse prison suits stamped with the yellow Star of David and where death was a frequent and brutal visitor; f. To compound the senseless tribulations suffered by Jews on Kristallnacht, the Nazis forced them to pay 25 million marks for the destruction of their own property and levied an additional fine of one billion marks, supposedly for their "crimes" against the state; g. Kristallnacht for the first time confirmed to the world the truly evil nature of the Nazis and the totalitarian German government of Hitler, and it served as a horrible and ominous omen of how that government was in later years to coldly murder six million Jews and others in a mindless attempt at the genocide of an entire religious minority; and h. It is imperative for the current generation of Americans and residents of New Jersey to remember the brutality of Kristallnacht and its importance as a portent of the Holocaust which later destroyed six million Jews and millions of others. L.1995,c.258,s.1.

N.J. Stat. § 36:1-13 Kristallnacht Memorial Night designated

2. The night of November 9-10 in each year is designated as Kristallnacht Memorial Night in New Jersey in honor of the innocent victims of that Nazi outrage. On the night of every November 9-10, the State Capitol Joint Management Commission, established pursuant to P.L.1992, c.67 (C.52:31-34 et seq.), shall ensure that each room and office in each State building within the Capitol Complex remains lit for the entire night as a remembrance of the terrible events of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust, and as a symbol of hope that humanity will finally unite to put an end to genocide. The State Capitol Joint Management Commission shall consult with the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, established pursuant to P.L.1991, c.193 (C.18A:4A-1 et seq.), on increasing public awareness of Kristallnacht Memorial Night in New Jersey. L.1995,c.258,s.2.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislative-activity/statutesFetched: 10/17/2026