New Jersey Expungement Lawyers: Sussex and Warren County Criminal Records
What Can Be Done About an Old Criminal Record in New Jersey?
An old criminal case does not always have to remain part of a person’s accessible record indefinitely.
New Jersey law provides several paths for expunging eligible arrests, charges, convictions, municipal court matters, and other records. But determining whether someone qualifies usually requires more than knowing the name of the original charge.
How the case ended can be just as important.
A conviction, dismissal, diversionary-program dismissal, municipal ordinance violation, and marijuana-related disposition may each lead to a different expungement analysis. When a person has several matters on a record, the relationship among those cases can matter as well.
For individuals in Sussex County and Warren County, evaluating an expungement therefore begins with a practical question: What is actually on the record today?
If you have a record in Newton, Phillipsburg, Frankford, Hackettstown, or elsewhere in Sussex or Warren County, the expungement lawyers at The Tormey Law Firm can review it with you. Call 973-755-1695 for a free initial consultation.
Start With What Happened to Each Case
People do not always remember the technical disposition of a case that happened years ago.
Someone may remember being arrested but not whether the charge was later dismissed. Another person may remember pleading guilty in municipal court without knowing whether the conviction was for a disorderly persons offense or a local ordinance violation.
Those distinctions matter under New Jersey’s expungement laws.
Before deciding whether a record can be cleared, it can be helpful to identify:
- The charges that were filed;
- How each charge was resolved;
- Whether any conviction was entered;
- Whether a diversionary program was completed;
- The dates on which the sentence or program requirements ended; and
- Whether there are other New Jersey or out-of-state convictions that affect eligibility.
Once those pieces are identified, the appropriate expungement provision can be evaluated.
What If the Record Contains an Indictable Conviction?
New Jersey refers to felony-level offenses as indictable crimes.
N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2 governs the traditional expungement of eligible indictable convictions. One statutory route permits expungement of one crime and, when applicable, no more than three disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offenses, provided the other requirements of the statute are satisfied.
The statute also contains provisions addressing certain multiple convictions, including qualifying convictions contained in a single judgment and certain offenses that were interdependent or closely related in circumstances and occurred as part of a sequence within a comparatively short period.
The ordinary statutory period is generally five years from the latest applicable event identified in the law.
Not every indictable conviction is eligible. New Jersey law excludes specified offenses from traditional expungement and imposes additional restrictions in areas such as certain controlled-dangerous-substance distribution convictions and crimes involving public office.
The exact conviction should therefore be identified before assuming that an indictable record can—or cannot—be expunged.
Which Offenses May Qualify, and Which Cannot Be Expunged?
Many common offenses can potentially be expunged when the other statutory requirements are met. Examples include many drug offenses, theft offenses such as shoplifting, simple assault, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, hindering, and possession of a fake ID.
Other offenses are excluded by statute. These include specified homicide offenses, kidnapping, luring or enticing, human trafficking, aggravated sexual assault, certain forms of criminal sexual contact, robbery, arson, certain offenses involving the sexual exploitation or abuse of children, perjury, false swearing, and terrorism-related crimes, among others.
Because eligibility depends on the exact statute of conviction, the general category of an offense does not answer the question by itself.
What If the Only Convictions Are DP or PDP Offenses?
Disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses have a separate expungement provision.
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-3, one principal route permits expungement of DP/PDP convictions when a person who has not been convicted of a crime has no more than five such convictions, subject to the other requirements of the statute.
Section 2C:52-3 also contains separate provisions addressing certain groups of convictions entered on the same day and certain interdependent or closely related offenses committed within a comparatively short sequence of events.
The ordinary waiting period is generally five years from the latest applicable statutory event. New Jersey law also provides an earlier route in certain cases when at least three but less than five years have passed and the additional statutory requirements, including compelling circumstances, are satisfied.
A person who also has an indictable criminal conviction must instead consider the provisions governing criminal convictions.
Was the Municipal Court Case Actually an Ordinance Violation?
Not everything handled in municipal court is a DP or PDP offense.
A person may instead have been convicted of violating a municipal ordinance. Qualifying ordinance convictions are addressed under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-4 and have their own eligibility requirements.
The ordinary period for an eligible municipal ordinance expungement is two years from the latest applicable event specified in the statute.
This distinction can be particularly important when an older State-law charge was downgraded and ultimately resolved as an ordinance violation.
Looking at the final disposition rather than relying on memory of the original charge can reveal which expungement provision actually applies.
What If the Charges Were Dismissed?
An arrest can create records even when the case never results in a conviction.
N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6 addresses qualifying matters that end in an acquittal, dismissal, or discharge without a conviction or finding of guilt.
Those cases generally are not governed by the multi-year waiting periods applicable to convictions.
New Jersey law provides a procedure for expungement in connection with the disposition of qualifying charges. When expungement was not obtained at that time, the statute also provides a mechanism for seeking relief afterward. Learn more about expunging an arrest record.
A dismissal resulting from certain diversionary programs is treated differently, so the reason the case was dismissed should be identified.
What If I Completed PTI or Another Diversionary Program?
Successful completion of a diversionary program can result in dismissal of the underlying charges, but the resulting record may still require expungement.
For Pretrial Intervention, Conditional Discharge, and Conditional Dismissal, N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6 generally permits expungement six months after entry of the dismissal order.
Other programs do not necessarily use that same six-month rule.
New Jersey’s Veterans Diversion Program and Mental Health Diversion Program contain their own expungement provisions connected with dismissal. The particular program should therefore be identified rather than assuming every diversionary disposition follows the same timetable. Learn more about expungement after a diversionary program.
What About Marijuana Records?
New Jersey’s marijuana reforms created special treatment for many marijuana and hashish cases.
Depending on the offense and disposition, a record may have been subject to expungement by operation of law, may qualify under a marijuana-specific expungement provision, or may need to be considered under another part of the expungement statutes.
For someone with an older marijuana case, the useful question is not simply whether marijuana is now legal in New Jersey.
The particular offense, amount when legally relevant, and final disposition can determine what happened to the record and whether any additional action is appropriate.
Is There a Different Option for an Older Criminal History?
New Jersey also has a clean-slate expungement provision under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.3.
Clean slate is different from the traditional expungement provisions governing an individual indictable conviction or a limited number of DP/PDP convictions.
It can provide a route for qualifying individuals with a broader history after the statutory period has been satisfied. The statute generally uses a ten-year period measured from the most recent conviction, payment of a court-ordered financial assessment, satisfactory completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration, whichever is later.
Clean slate does not make every offense expungeable. Statutory exclusions still matter, and the person’s history must be reviewed against the requirements of the clean-slate provision.
For someone who was previously told that there were too many convictions for a traditional expungement, clean-slate eligibility may be worth examining separately.
Are There Other Expungement Routes?
Yes.
New Jersey’s expungement laws contain additional provisions for particular circumstances.
For example, N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5 provides a specialized route for certain drug offenses committed when the person was 21 years old or younger, subject to the limitations of that statute.
Juvenile delinquency records are also addressed separately under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-4.1.
A person who successfully completed Recovery Court (formerly Drug Court) may also have a separate expungement route under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14(m), subject to the requirements and limitations of that statute.
The availability of a specialized provision depends on the facts of the record. A person should not assume that the traditional adult-conviction rules are the only possible route.
What If There Are Several Different Types of Cases?
This is where an expungement review can become more complicated.
A person’s history might contain an indictable conviction, several municipal court matters, an old dismissal, and a diversionary-program case.
Those entries should not automatically be treated as though they are governed by one rule.
Some convictions can affect eligibility for others. Certain dismissed charges may be treated independently. Prior expungements can also matter under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-14, subject to the exceptions contained in that statute.
The goal is to determine how the pieces of the record interact under New Jersey’s expungement laws rather than applying a single waiting period to everything that appears in a background history.
What Does an Expungement Actually Do?
An expungement does not mean that every document connected with a case is physically destroyed.
New Jersey law defines expungement in terms of the extraction and isolation of qualifying records from ordinary access.
The statutes also contain specific circumstances in which expunged information may still be accessed or used. For example, a person applying for employment within the judicial branch or with a law enforcement or corrections agency may still be required to disclose information about an expunged record.
For most purposes, however, an expungement provides substantial legal protection for an eligible record and changes the way that record is maintained and disclosed under New Jersey law.
Where Is an Expungement Filed?
Expungement applications are handled in the Superior Court.
For the principal conviction-expungement provisions, current law permits filing in the county where the person resides or a county in which one or more of the person’s convictions were adjudged.
The appropriate filing and supporting information depend on the type of expungement being sought.
Someone with matters from several courts or counties should identify the relevant dispositions before determining where and how the application should proceed.
Why an Old Record May Be Worth Looking at Again
New Jersey’s expungement laws have changed significantly over time.
As a result, someone who assumed years ago that a record could not be expunged may be applying an outdated understanding of the law.
The same is true for a person who was told that multiple convictions automatically made expungement impossible or who never investigated what happened to a dismissed or marijuana-related case.
The answer should be based on the person’s current record and the law that applies now.
Sussex and Warren County Expungement Lawyers
The Tormey Law Firm represents individuals seeking expungements in Sussex County, Warren County, and throughout New Jersey.
Whether a record can be expunged may depend on how each case ended, the number and type of convictions, the dates on which sentencing requirements were completed, prior or subsequent history, and whether a traditional or specialized expungement provision applies.
If you have an arrest, criminal conviction, disorderly persons offense, municipal ordinance violation, diversionary-program record, or other New Jersey matter in Newton, Sparta, Hopatcong, Vernon, Franklin, Hackettstown, Washington, Phillipsburg, or elsewhere in Sussex or Warren County that you want reviewed for possible expungement, contact The Tormey Law Firm to discuss the record and the expungement options that may be available under current New Jersey law. Call 973-755-1695 or contact us online for a free initial consultation.
