The state’s obligation to defend and indemnify county prosecutors for alleged tortious conduct does not extend to a municipal police officer who was sued over his actions while “on loan” to a regional task force, the Appellate Division has ruled.

The court in Massmino v. State of New Jersey affirmed an agency ruling by the Attorney General’s Office withholding the state’s defense and indemnification of a Berkeley Heights police officer assigned to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office’s Guns, Gangs, Drugs and Violent Crimes Task Force.