Eligibilty for an Expungement in the State of New Jersey

Please understand there is a lot of information here for you, I just tried to make it as easy as possible for you in an effort to educate you on the basics and make you understand if you are eligible for an expungement.

 Always know you can "contact me" for any questions even to double check your issues and eligibilty.

     First: Let me say that "Only New Jersey Convictions and Arrests may be expunged in New Jersey". If you would like to get your record expunged from another state or you have a conviction for a Federal Offense, you must contact the Court System in that state or the Federal Court System to determine whether you will be eligible to expunge your record.

     Second: You "can not have any charges currently pending or still open" when you file the Petition for Expungement and also "you must have never before been granted an expungement" you can only get an expungement one (1) time. 

     Third: To be eligible for an expungement in the state of New Jersey depends on the "Type and Number" of criminal convictions or records you have, whether a conviction was for a:

• "Indictable Offences" Generally a crime punishable by Six Months of jail time or more.
• (If your conviction or guilty plea occurred in a County Superior Court then it was probably an idictable offense)

• "Disorderly Persons Offences" Generally a crime punishable by Six Months of jail time or less.
• (If your conviction or guilty plea occurred in a Municipal Court then it was probably a disorderly persons offense)

• "Municipal Ordinance Offences" Generally a crime punishable by 90 Days of jail time or less.
• (If your conviction or guilty plea occurred in a Municipal Court then it was probably a municipal ordinance offense)

       "Please also note: that there are clearly defined "Waiting Periods" which you must wait for different charges or offences in order for you to be eligible for an expungement of your records. "See Below"

Expunging an "Indictable" Conviction

• You cannot have any other indictable convictions in any state at any time.
• You cannot have more than Two (2) Disorderly Persons convictions in any state before and after the conviction for the indictable offense.
• You must wait "Ten (10) Years" from the date of conviction, payment of any fines, completion of probation or parole, or the release from jail, "Whichever is later" before you can apply for an expungement.  

Expunging a "Disorderly Persons" Conviction

• You cannot have any other indictable convictions in any state at any time.
• You cannot have more than Two (2) other Disorderly Persons convictions in any state.
• You are allowed to have up to Three (3) Disorderly Persons Convictions to be expunged.
• You must wait "Five (5) Years" from the date of conviction, payment of any fines, completion of probation or parole, or the release from jail, "Whichever is later" before you can apply for an expungement. 

Expunging a "Municipal Ordinance" Conviction

• You cannot have any other indictable convictions in any state at any time.
• You cannot have more than Two (2) other Disorderly Persons convictions in any state.
• Your sentence could not have been for more than 90 Days or a $200 Fine
• You must wait "Two (2) Years" from the date of conviction, payment of any fines, completion of probation or parole, or the release from jail, "Whichever is later" before you can apply for an expungement. 

Young Drug Offenders "Under 21" Years Old

• You must be "21 or Younger" when convicted of possessing a controlled dangerous substance, or selling, distributing, or possessing Marijuana or Hashish with the intent to sell it. 
• The conviction must be for possession of a controlled dangerous substance.
• Amount of the Marijuana sold, distributed, or possessed with intent to sell must be "25 grams or less". 
• Amount of the Hashish sold, distributed, or possessed with intent to sell must be "5 grams or less".  
• You must wait "One (1) Years" after the date of conviction.

Supervisory Treatment, Conditional Discharge,

Pretrial Intervention (PTI), and other Diversionary Programs

• "Supervisory Treatment Program" If you participated in this program and successfully completed it and your case was conditionally discharged pursuant to the New Jersey Controlled Dangerous Substance Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:36A-1.
• You must wait "Six (6) Months" after the completing of the program to apply.
• "Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI)" If you participated in this program and your case was subsequently dismissed after your successfull completion your criminal record will be dismissed, but you will still have an "Arrest Record" that will need to be expunged as stated below.(See: Expunging an Arrest Record) You are eligible to expunge an arrest record "immediately at Any Time". 

   

   

                                Expunging an "Arrest" Record

   

• Have you ever been arrested but not convicted, because you were found "Not Guilty" or the charges were "Dropped" and "Never Brought To Trial" and you probably would believe that your record remains clean. This is not true, in fact a record of an arrest will show up on your record. Therefore, it is just as important to expunge a record of arrest as it is to expunge a record of conviction. Any arrest will show up on your record.
• If you were ever arrested for any offense and never convicted, you are eligible for an expungement of your record "immediately at Any Time".