New Jersey: Adult Convictions (NJ-C-1)

Records relating to a conviction for an indictable offense may be expunged by the court five years from the date of his most recent conviction, payment of any court-ordered financial assessment, satisfactory completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration, whichever is later, so long as the person has no other indictable offense convictions and no more than three disorderly person or petty disorderly person convictions. Multiple indictable offenses may be treated as one if listed in a single judgement of conviction or if offenses 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." N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-2(a).

Record Detail(s)

First offense

Felony

Previous Conviction Disqualifying

Potentially, see statute

Mandatory / Discretionary

Discretionary

Hearing

Yes, if objection filed

Clearance Process

Petition-based

Remedy

Expunge

Ineligible Category or Citation

See subsections (b), (c), and (d) for offenses ineligible for expungement. See N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-2.

Procedure General

The petition must be filed in Superior Court in the county of conviction. For the specific procedure, see N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-2, 2C:52-7 et seq.

Fees

There is no fee. See, €¯N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-29.€¯

Effect

Records are not released or utilized other than for specified purposes. The arrest and proceedings are deemed not to have occurred, and the person can answer accordingly, except in circumstances specified in section. N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-29(c).

Forms

For information regarding clearing a record in New Jersey, visit here.

Waiting Periods

The petition may be filed five years after sentence completion, including payment of any fine. For situations in which the petition may be filed sooner, see N.J. Stat. § 2C:52-2(a).

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