On Wednesday, December 19, 2017, Governor Chris Christie enacted new expungement laws in New Jersey, drastically changing New Jersey’s expungement procedures. The new expungement law in New Jersey will take effect on October 1, 2018.
Among other changes, the new expungement law in New Jersey will reduce the waiting periods for expungement eligibility and increase the number of convictions an individual can expunge.
More specifically, bill S-3307, which applies to the expungement of adult criminal records, makes several changes with respect to expungement law in New Jersey, including the following:
- Reduces Waiting Period for Felony Convictions. Shortens the waiting period from 10 years to 6 years for the expungement of felony (indictable) convictions (note that individuals can still apply for an “early pathway” expungement after 5 years).
- Increases the Number of Convictions That Can Be Expunged.
- For those individuals who have not been convicted of a felony, the new expungement law increases the number of disorderly/petty disorderly persons convictions that can be expunged from 3 to 4; and
- For those individuals who have been convicted of a felony, the new expungement law increases the number of disorderly/petty disorderly persons convictions that the individual can have from 2 to 3.
- Eliminates the “PTI” Bar. Under New Jersey’s current expungement law, those individuals who had a felony dismissed pursuant to Pre-Trial Intervention (“PTI”) are barred from being able expunge any prior or subsequent disorderly persons (misdemeanor) or indictable (felony) convictions under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-14(f). Under the new law, this bar — which prevented many individuals from being able to expunge their convictions — is now eliminated.
- Restitution. The new law allows those individuals who otherwise satisfy the 6 year time requirement for expunging a criminal conviction, but who still owe fines or restitution to nonetheless be eligible for expungement on the condition that the court either provides for the continued collection of fines and/or restitution or enters a civil judgment for the outstanding amount.
- Allows for “Crime Spree” Expungements. Under the current expungement law in New Jersey, an individual can only expunge one felony conviction. The new law, however, allows for the expungement of more than one felony conviction if:
- The felony convictions are listed in a single judgment of conviction; or
- The felony convictions were interdependent or closely related in circumstances and were committed as part of a sequence of events that took place within a comparatively short period of time.
In addition, bill S-3308, which applies to the expungement of juvenile offenses, reduces the waiting period from five years to three years.
Christie signed these bills, which were sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Senator Sandra Cunningham, in an effort to remove the barriers that exist in finding employment with a criminal record.
These laws should drastically increase the number of individuals who are now eligible to expunge their criminal records. If you have any questions about what effect, if any, the new expungement laws in New Jersey will have on your criminal record, contact the New Jersey expungement lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law today for a free consultation at (856) 832-2482.
Our Guaranteed Expungement Service* includes all of the following:
When we handle your expungement, our service includes not only obtaining the actual court order expunging/sealing your records but we will also:
- Guaranteed Expungement* or Your Money Back! We are so confident in our services that we will guarantee expungement or we will refund our legal fee in full.
- Obtain non-certified dispositions for your records. Before expunging/sealing your record, you should obtain your case dispositions for your files since, once the records are ordered expunged/sealed, you will likely not be able to obtain them. Should you ever be required to disclose or need access to your expunged/sealed records for any reason, it will be tough, if not impossible, to obtain them once your cases have been expunged/sealed. As part of our representation, we will obtain non-certified case dispositions on your behalf. Moreover, should you require certified case dispositions (usually required for immigration proceedings), we can also obtain those on your behalf for an additional fee.
- Ensure that your expunged/sealed records are removed from private databases. As part of our representation of you, we will not only obtain an order expunging/sealing your records and ensure that your records are removed from the applicable state agencies’ databases, but we will go the extra mile by providing – at no additional cost – the invaluable service of making sure that the various online, private background check databases (such as Checkr, Truthfinder, Sterling, etc.) have removed your expunged records from their databases. Other law firms either do not offer this service at all or charge upwards of $200 to $400 additional for this service. At Katherine O’Brien Law, when we say that we will handle your expungement/sealing from start to finish for a flat fee price, we mean it, and we go above and beyond for our clients to ensure their expunged records are removed for good from all possible sources.
- Ensure that your expunged records are removed from government databases. After the court orders your expungement and the expungement order is served on the applicable government agencies, such as the police department that arrested you, the applicable court, the probation office, the county prosecutor, etc., the expungement lawyers at Katherine O’Brien Law will go above and beyond by confirming that your records were actually removed from the applicable databases. You would not believe how frequently we have found the state agencies to have failed to properly update their databases – despite proper service of the expungement order by our office. Shockingly, we have found that approximately one-third of the time, government agencies have failed to remove expunged records from these databases properly. We cannot stress how important it is to verify, post-expungement, that the state agencies, such as the municipal courts, have removed your records per the expungement order.
- Offer free lifetime record removal services. Finally, despite our diligent and proper handling of your case and our dedication to ensuring that your records have been appropriately removed from the state and private databases, with the advent of the internet and information sharing, it is possible that an Internet background check company might improperly reveal your expunged record. Should this happen to you, we offer a free lifetime record removal service to our expungement/sealing clients. We will immediately reach out to the relevant background check company on your behalf and demand that they remove your expunged records from their system and correct any reports issued on your behalf. Other law firms provide you with a form letter and instructions on how to do this yourself.
*The use of the word “guaranteed” in attorney advertisements specifically refers to a refund policy and does not imply a guarantee of any particular outcome in your legal case. Legal cases are inherently unpredictable, and the result of any legal matter cannot be assured. Katherine O’Brien Law guarantees that you will receive a full refund of our legal fee if you do not obtain the desired outcome. This guarantee applies solely to the refund and not to the success or outcome of your case. Please also be advised that if expungement was denied for your failure to disclose your entire criminal record, the guarantee does not apply. For more information and to discuss your specific legal situation, please consult with one of our experienced attorneys.
