Newark police car

Municipalities could require newly hired police and firefighters to live where they work for the first five years of employment. (File Photo)

(File photo)

TRENTON -- Municipalities could require their newly hired police officers and firefighters to live in the towns in which they work for the first five years on the job under a bill that is now on Gov. Chris Christie's desk.

The bill (A4265) passed the state Senate and state Assembly on Thursday.

"I think we can all remember back when our police and firefighters lived in our towns. They were our basketball coaches, our friends in church, the ones we met in restaurants. They were a large part of our community. That's changed," said state Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex), the bill's sponsor.

New Jersey law, effective since 2011, requires all new public workers to live in-state, but there is no state mandate on how long new police or firefighters are required to live in their jurisdiction. However, individual municipalities require new police or firefighters to live in their communities for at least a year.

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Police and firefighter union representatives opposed the legislation, claiming that living in the communities they serve would put themselves and their families at risk, given the recent tensions between some police officers and private citizens.

"We live in America, where someone may move about as they see fit. The bill will hold hostage an individual because of their job. America will no longer be the home of the free," Dominick Marino, president of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey told the Senate budget committee earlier this month.

The bill passed the Senate 21-14 and the Assembly 41-32.

"This is a sea change in terms of relations between firemen, policemen and their towns as what's best for our communities -- those communities that want this," Codey said.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this report.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.