New Expungement Law permits petitions for Expungement
of arrests in shorter time periods.
This new law establishes new expungement procedures
for records and information pertaining to crimes and offenses, including
procedures for persons who are, or previously have been, successfully
discharged from the State’s special probation drug court program. It also
provides shorter waiting periods before certain records and information become
expungeable.
Regarding a person with
a criminal conviction, that person would be permitted to make an application
with an expungement petition to the Superior Court in the county in which the
criminal conviction was adjudged. That application could include
additional, separate petitions seeking to expunge no more than two other
convictions for disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offenses.
The application could only be filed after the expiration of five years from the
date of the person’s most recent conviction, payment of fine, satisfactory
completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration, for the crime
or for any disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense, whichever is
later (the waiting period under current law for a criminal conviction
expungement is ordinarily 10 years). Alternatively, the court could grant
an expungement on the application if less than five years has expired from the
payment of any fine but the five-year waiting period is otherwise satisfied,
and the court finds that the person substantially complied with any payment
plan for that fine or could not do so due to compelling circumstances.
Regarding a person with
a conviction for a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense, but
no criminal conviction, that person would be permitted to make an application
with an expungement petition to the Superior Court concerning that offense
following a procedure similar to that used for criminal convictions. The
application, like an application concerning a criminal conviction, could
include additional, separate petitions seeking to expunge no more than two
other convictions for disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons
offenses. The application could only be filed after the expiration of
three years from the date of the person’s most recent conviction, payment of
fine, satisfactory completion of probation or parole, or release from
incarceration for any disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense,
whichever is later (the waiting period on convictions for such offenses under
current law is five years). Alternatively, the court could grant an
expungement on the application if less than three years has expired from the
payment of any fine but the three-year waiting period is otherwise satisfied,
and the court finds that the person substantially complied with any payment
plan for that fine or could not do so due to compelling circumstances.
Regarding a person with
an arrest or charge that did not result in a conviction or finding of guilt,
whether the proceedings were dismissed, or the person acquitted or discharged,
upon a person presenting an application for expungement:
(1) if the proceedings
took place in Superior Court, the court, at the time of dismissal, acquittal,
or discharge, would order the expungement of all records and information
relating to the arrest or charge; or
(2) if the proceedings
took place in municipal court, the municipal court would provide the person
with appropriate documentation to transmit to the Superior Court to request an expungement,
and the Superior Court, upon receipt of the documentation with an expungement
request would take action to order the expungement of all records and
information relating to the arrest or charge. A person seeking such an
expungement of municipal court matters would not be charged an application fee
for taking such action.
An expungement related
to a dismissal, acquittal, or discharge without a conviction or finding of
guilt would not be available whenever the dismissal, acquittal, or discharge
resulted from a plea bargaining agreement involving the conviction of other charges.
However, this bar on such expungements would no longer apply once the
conviction connected to the plea bargain was itself expunged.
If the person did not
apply for an expungement related to a dismissal, acquittal, or discharge at the
time such action occurred, the person could, at any time following the
disposition of proceedings, present to the Superior Court in the county in
which the disposition occurred an application with a duly verified petition,
containing relevant details concerning the applicant and the arrest or charge
for which the expungement is sought. The person, pursuing this “after the
fact” expungement application, would also not be charged an application fee.
A copy of any Superior
Court order of expungement related to a dismissal, acquittal, or discharge
would be presented to the appropriate court and the prosecutor. The
prosecutor would then be responsible for promptly distributing copies of the
expungement order to appropriate agencies with custody and control of the records
specified in the order so that they may be properly expunged.
Regarding a person who
is, or was prior to the effective date of the bill, successfully discharged
from the State’s special probation drug court program, the bill would permit
the Superior Court that had sentenced the person to the program to expunge all
records and information relating to prior arrests, detentions, convictions, and
proceedings for any offense enumerated in the Criminal Code, Title 2C of the
New Jersey Statutes, existing at the time of discharge from the program.
However, the person would not be eligible for such an expungement action if the
person’s records include a conviction for any offense barred from expungement
pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-2.
For a person who is
successfully discharged on or after the effective date of the bill, the
person would only be eligible to have all prior matters expunged if the person
was not convicted of any crime, disorderly persons offense, or petty disorderly
persons offense during the term of special probation. For a person who
was successfully discharged prior to the effective date of the bill, the
person would only be eligible to have all matters expunged that existed at the
time of discharge from the program if the person has not been convicted of any
crime or offense since the person’s date of discharge.
The Superior Court
would grant the person successfully discharged from the special probation drug
court program the relief of expungement, unless it finds that the need for the
availability of the records and information outweighs the desirability of
having the person freed from any disabilities associated with their
availability. The person would not be charged any fee for such an
expungement action.
Lastly, regarding the
continued availability of any expunged records and information, the bill
updates the statutory list of parties within the criminal justice system that
may still view such records and information. Along with courts, county
prosecutors, the Probation Division of the Superior Court, and the Attorney
General, the Pretrial Services Program making pretrial release recommendations
on certain persons undergoing the release determination process set forth in
sections 1 through 11 of P.L.2014, c.31 (C.2A:162-15 et seq.) would also be
able to examine expunged records and information.
As amended and
reported, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill Nos. 206, 471, 1663, 2879,
3060, and 3108 (ACS/2R), as also amended and reported by the committee. SENATE, No. 2663
More info on hiring an attorney for an
expungment at http://www.njlaws.com/expungement.html
