You picked your kid up from a birthday party, or you were driving your nephew home from practice, and you got stopped on the way. Now the summons in your hand has two charges on it: the DWI itself, and a second one under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50.15. That second charge is not another traffic ticket. It is a disorderly persons offense — a criminal charge — and it is the reason this case is more serious than a standard first-offense DWI.
What the statute actually says
Most write-ups on this charge get one thing wrong, and it matters. Section 39:4-50.15(b) reads: “A parent or guardian who is convicted of a violation of R.S.39:4-50 and who, at the time of the violation, has a minor as a passenger in the motor vehicle is guilty of a disorderly persons offense.”
Three pieces of that sentence decide whether the charge holds up:
- “A parent or guardian.” The statute is not written for every driver with a young passenger. Subsection (a) defines the term broadly — natural parent, adoptive parent, resource family parent, stepparent, or a person temporarily responsible for the minor’s care — but it is still a defined element the State has to establish. A driver who does not fit that definition is outside the statute.
- “A minor.” Defined in subsection (a) as a person 17 years of age or younger. Eighteen is not a minor.
- “Who is convicted of a violation of R.S.39:4-50.” This is the most important part. The 39:4-50.15 charge is derivative. It exists only if the underlying DWI conviction happens. No DWI conviction, no disorderly persons offense.
What it adds on top of the DWI
Subsection (c) is explicit that these penalties come in addition to everything the DWI already carries:
- Loss of driving privileges for up to six months — separate from and on top of the DWI suspension or interlock period.
- Community service for up to five days.
- Disorderly persons exposure. Because it is a disorderly persons offense, the general sentencing statutes apply: up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
And there is a consequence that is not in the penalty list at all. In New Jersey, a DWI is a motor vehicle offense, not a crime — it does not create a criminal record. A disorderly persons offense does. That single distinction is what changes background checks, professional licensing questions, and immigration exposure. If you carry a CDL, a nursing license, a teaching certificate, or a security clearance, the 39:4-50.15 charge is usually the one that puts it at risk, not the DWI.
Two other things routinely travel with this charge. Prosecutors can, in some cases, add a separate indictable charge of endangering the welfare of a child under N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4, which is handled in Superior Court rather than municipal court. And a referral to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency is a realistic possibility in these cases. Neither is automatic — but both need to be accounted for from day one, not discovered later.
How this gets defended
Because the criminal charge is bolted onto the DWI, the defense starts with the DWI itself — the stop, the observations, the testing, and the paperwork behind all of it:
- The basis for the stop. Every case begins with whether there was a lawful reason to pull the car over at all.
- The breath testing. Alcotest results depend on a documented chain of foundational records — calibration, the 20-minute observation period, operator certification. We pull them. See our breakdown of what the Alcotest calibration records actually have to show.
- Field sobriety testing. The standardized tests have administration requirements, and roadside conditions frequently do not meet them.
- The elements of 39:4-50.15 itself. Passenger’s age, the “parent or guardian” relationship, and whether the minor was in the vehicle at the time of the violation are all facts that have to be proven — not assumed from a checkbox on the summons.
- Resolution paths for the criminal charge. New Jersey’s conditional dismissal program under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-13.1 exists for certain disorderly persons offenses in municipal court for defendants without prior criminal convictions. Whether it is available here depends on the specific facts and your record — but it is a question that has to be asked, because a dismissed charge and a conviction are two very different futures. Related reading: what happens to your record after a conditional dismissal.
What you should not do is treat this like a ticket you can pay. There is no mail-in resolution for a disorderly persons offense, and pleading out the DWI without accounting for the criminal charge stacked behind it locks in a criminal record you did not have to accept.
Talk to us before your first court date
If there was a child in the car, this case needs to be looked at hard and looked at early. Call Goldman Law Firm at 908-692-7745 for a free consultation — bring the summons, both charges, and the court date. More on how we handle these cases on our NJ DUI and DWI defense page.