Who is eligible for expungement in nj

Steve walked me through everything he was doing. Mr Hernandez did an exemplary job at handling my 3rd offense DUI. He kept me out of jail and lived up to all the expectations he set. I am beyond happy with the result an. He explains the court process very clearly and understand the in and outs of how the breathalyzer.

Automated page speed optimizations for fast site performance. Latest News Reviews Contact. Latest News. Miranda rights are grounded in the Fifth, Sixth, a. Most people understand what is meant when you use. A child endangerment charge is taken quite serious. These are serious crimes that are punishable with jail sentences of six months or more. These include crimes such as simple possession or simple assault, and are punishable by less than six months of jail time. Municipal ordinance violations , which are violations of town or city laws and typically only are punishable by a fine for example, littering or curfew violations.

No matter what the category, many convictions and violations can be expunged after a certain period of time. Arrests that did not result in a conviction with a few exceptions , and most juvenile records are also eligible. There are many serious violent and sex-related crimes that cannot be expunged from your record , including:. Motor vehicle-related violations under Title 39, such as driving under the influence. Depending on your record, there are different types of expungements you can apply for:.

You can also expunge municipal ordinance violations as long as you have no indictable offenses, and two or fewer disorderly persons offenses. Clean slate expungement is newer in New Jersey, and allows you to have your entire record expunged after 10 years.

So, Roper says, you can expunge a number of records at the same time, provided they occurred closely together. It depends on the type of record you have, and how long since your most recent conviction, fine payment, release from incarceration, or completion of probation or parole.

If your record contains indictable and disorderly persons convictions , you need to wait five years from your most recent offense or violation. Most minor marijuana-related offenses like possession of less than one ounce of cannabis can be expunged immediately, though that wait time can increase to three years for more serious offenses such as distribution of more than one ounce of marijuana. Some drug offenses for young offenders under 21 can be expunged after one year.

New Jersey just introduced an electronic filing system — eCourts Expungement System — to make it easier to obtain your criminal record and petition for expungement.

You can file petitions for regular, clean slate, and marijuana expungements online. Most of the rest of the information will automatically populate, Roper says. The New Jersey Courts website provides a step-by-step guide on how to use the system.

If you need to find your record, you can check online databases such as the Promis Gavel Criminal Records Database and the Municipal Courts Case Search , contact the attorney that handled your case, or contact the New Jersey State Police and request a copy of your record, though that requires fingerprinting. If you do not have computer or internet access , you can still file via paper forms. Thus, a person with 20 indictable convictions would theoretically be eligible for a Clean Slate expungement, so long as they meet the year requirement.

In addition, if a Petitioner seeking a Clean Slate expungement had previously had an indictable offense expunged, the Clean Slate law expressly makes it clear that this fact would not act as a bar to eligibility under the Clean Slate law, as it would under the regular expungement statutes pursuant to N. As of February 15, , the effective date of the Clean Slate law, petitioners must file a formal petition with the Superior Court of New Jersey to expunge their records in accordance with the Clean Slate law.

If and when this automated process is established, then Petitioners are no longer eligible to file for a Clean Slate expungement by petition, as described in N. When, however, this automated system will go into effect is unknown. Thus, this task force is supposed to be appointed by March 15, The task force then has another 30 days to organize, giving them until April 15, , to do that.

After the task force organizes, the task force has another 6 months to identify and recommend solutions to any technological, fiscal, resource, and practical issues that may arise in the development and implementation of the automated process. In doing so, the task force is supposed to analyze and implementation of automated processes in Pennsylvania and California; consult with computer programming organizations regarding implementation; and identify the necessary systemic changes, required technology, cost estimates, and possible sources of funding to develop and maintain this system.

The statute, however, is silent as to what happens next, after the task force issues its report of recommendations. It also provides no further timelines with respect to the actual establishment of the automated process. Thus, it is unclear when New Jerseyans can expect the automated system to go into effect. Unfortunately, your guess is as good as ours with respect to when the automated process will go into effect. That being said, determining whether or not you should file your Clean Slate expungement now or wait depends on a few considerations.

If time is of the essence, then we recommend that you file your Clean Slate expungement now. If, however, you are in no rush to obtain expungement and you are struggling financially, then it may be in your best interests to wait for the automated process — with one warning. Ask any New Jersey expungement lawyer and they will tell you that the Clean Slate statute is very, very unclear and leaves many important eligibility questions unanswered.

For example, what happens with convictions for third-degree and fourth-degree possession with intent to distribute convictions? Are those offenses eligible or ineligible for the automated Clean Slate process? Also, what happens with local ordinance offenses?

Especially local ordinance convictions that were originally charged as 2C criminal offenses? The Clean Slate law does not expressly state how these offenses are to be handled and whether they are eligible for the automated process. Also, if someone was recently convicted of a local ordinance, does that re-start the year clock? These questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many eligibility questions that are raised by this statute.

As expungement lawyers, our job is to argue for the broadest possible interpretation of expungement statutes on behalf of our clients. In fact, lawyers do their best work and their most important work in grey areas of the law such as this.

Due to the vagueness of the Clean Slate law, there is a lot to be argued. When you rely on the automated process, however, you are obtaining expungement on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. In other words, the State gets to decide what gets expunged and you, unfortunately, have no say in the matter. For these reasons, unless you are struggling financially and are in no hurry to obtain an expungement, in which case it may be in your best interest to wait to the automated process, we strongly recommend that you obtain an attorney to file your Clean Slate expungement.

Note that this statute does not provide for the automatic expungement of marijuana offenses or convictions, unless your arrest or conviction takes place after May 15, For those arrests or convictions that take place prior to May 15, , a formal petition for expungement must still be filed, but the petition can be filed at any time, provided the Petitioner has completed their sentence, which includes payment of fines and restitution and completion of probation.

If, however, your marijuana-related offense takes place after May 15, , then, pursuant to N. Katherine is passionate about helping people remove their criminal records and offering them a fresh start. Learn more about Katherine on her attorney profile here. Jersey City, New Jersey Grove Street Suite Jersey City, NJ Information on this site is not intended as, nor is legal advice or the establishment of an attorney-client relationship.

Case results depicted are not a prediction or guarantee of potential case outcomes. View our Terms of Use. Eligibility for Expungement in New Jersey Please note: These pages have been updated as of the new expungement law, L. If you have more than one indictable felony offense, then you can expunge only the most recent indictable conviction. The prior indictable conviction whether within New Jersey or out of state would remain on your record.

If, however, you had previously expunged the older indictable conviction, then unfortunately you would not be eligible to expunge the most recent indictable conviction under this section you may, however, be eligible for expungement under the Clean Slate or Drug Court expungement statutes.

So, for example, if you were convicted of theft in and aggravated assault in , you would be able to expunge the aggravated assault conviction, but the theft conviction would remain on your record. If, however, you were convicted of theft in and subsequently had that offense expunged but were later convicted of aggravated assault in , then you would not be eligible to expunge the aggravated assault conviction due to the prior expungement.

You can expunge one indictable conviction and up to three disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons convictions. If you have more than three disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons convictions, then you would not be eligible to file for expungement under this section although you may be eligible under the Clean Slate or Drug Court expungement statutes. Special Treatment of Marijuana and Marijuana-Related Offenses For purposes of determining eligibility pursuant to this section, it is important to keep in mind that marijuana and marijuana-related offenses are treated differently.

For example, convictions for the following offenses are not considered convictions at all under the expungement statutes and, thus, do not count against a Petitioner when determining eligibility: N.

These offenses are as follows: Records of conviction pursuant to repealed statutes for the following offenses: murder, manslaughter, treason, anarchy, kidnapping, rape, forcible sodomy, arson, perjury, false swearing, robbery, embracery, or a conspiracy or attempt to commit those crimes; Criminal Homicide under N. Expungement of Felony Convictions for the Sale or Distribution of a Controlled Dangerous Substance or Possession with Intent to Sell Prior to , convictions for the sale or distribution or possession of a controlled dangerous substance CDS with intent to sell — whether in the first, second, third, or fourth degree — were ineligible for expungement.

Under the amended law, convictions for the sale or distribution of CDS or possession of CDS with intent to sell are eligible for expungement so long as they involved: Marijuana and the total quantity involved was less than 1 ounce; Hashish and the total quantity involved was less than 5 grams; and Any other CDS, provided the conviction was in the 3rd or 4th degree and the court finds that compelling circumstances exist to grant the expungement.

Payment of Court Fines as Condition of Sentence for Felony Convictions In calculating whether a sufficient period of time has passed since you completed your sentence, the court will look at the date you finished paying off your fine.