Expunging criminal records in New Jersey
State court's website helps guide process
By: Kaitlyn Kanzier
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A criminal record does not necessarily need to follow someone for the rest of their lives. For some people, having the record expunged is an option.
..... According to the American Bar Association, expungement is a process that allows a record of criminal convictions to be destroyed sealed from state and federal courts.
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"An expungement order directs the court to treat the criminal convictions as if it never occurred, essentially removing it from a defendant's criminal record as well as, ideally, the public record,"" the American Bar Association said.
..... The association said an expungement at the feral court level is almost unheard of and there is "no federal statute governing its application,' and happens almost exclusively at the state level and is most common in juvenile cases.
..... According to the New Jersey Courts website, an expungement can remove a person's arrest record, all court proceedings related to their case, a criminal or juvenile conviction and the outcome of the case, including the sentence.
..... In New Jersey, a variety of offenses can be expunged, as highlighted on the Lento Law Firm's website. a person with one indictable offense, equal to a felony, and three disorderly person offenses, equal to a misdemeanor, can have them expunged five years after completing their sentence and paying any fines.
..... A maximum of five disorderly conduct offenses can be expunged five years after completing supervision and paying fines, if there is no prior criminal history. Ordinance violations can be expunged without limit after a two-year waiting period.
..... Some drug charges can be expunged as well as a juvenile record and an assault charge if it is a disorderly peons offense.
How to get your criminal record expunged
..... The state court's website helps guide individuals through the expungement process, but people can also hire an attorney to assist them.
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"There is no fee associated with filing an expungement," said Mary Ann Spoto, communications manager for NJ Courts. "The only costs would be if they hired private counsel."
..... After registering on the court's website, users receive a filing guide for proses (self-represented) cases.
..... The user guide walks a person through the process. Following the guide, a porns must "add access" to the eCourt Expungement System, which gives them access to the expungement application homepage. Through the homepage, users can access their open cases form the "In Process" workbasket and crate a new expungement petition.
..... If a person doesn't know their court case number, it can be found through a municipality if it's a municipal case and PROMIS Gavel if it's a Superior Court case. A person must select their expungement type and include any necessary documents before checking for any additional cases that were not retrieved during the initial search.
..... There are several types of expungments - clean slate, marijuana, recovery court, decriminalization, regular expungements including adults and juvenile delinquency adjudications and expedited expungement.
...... The person needs to manually select the cases to be included in the proposed expungement order.
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On the verification screen, there are two required fields - a certification statement to confirm the information in the petition is accurate and a verification that there are no pending criminal charges against them.
..... The petitioner must review and verify the notified parties and then preview the disposed order.
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After a judge signs an expungement order, it is sent to law enforcement agencies responsible for removing the records form their files. The New Jersey State police have a portal that allows someone to track their expungement order.
..... To check if someone is eligible for an expungement, visit the Legal Services of New Jersey for a navigator.