What is the Expungement Project?

The Expungement Project is for individuals who need expungements often to gain better employment.  The Expungement Project assists income eligible individuals with obtaining an expungement of their New Jersey criminal record. South Jersey Legal Services, Inc. (SJLS) attorneys and volunteer attorneys participating in the SJLS Private Attorney Involvement Program assist eligible clients.

The Project does not assist with out-of-state criminal records, nor does it assist with the expungement of Involuntary Civil Commitment Records.

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How Can I Participate in This Project?

If you feel that you are eligible to participate in The Expungement Project, you may contact the Centralized Intake Unit at 1-800-496-4570 to be screened for eligibility. Intake hours are Monday through Friday, from 8:30am to 4:00pm. You may also Apply Online to submit an application for consideration.

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At this initial review, the intake unit will decide if you are financially eligible to participate in The Expungement Project. An intake staff member will ask for information about your income, family size, assets and the reason for which you are seeking help. All of the information that you share will remain confidential. If you are financially eligible, we then decide whether your case is one for which we can provide representation based on our board guidelines. If the case is one which we cannot handle or which we are unable to handle at the present time, we will attempt to refer you to an organization which will provide assistance.

What is an Expungement?

According to N..J.S.A. 2C:52-1, an expungement is defined as the “extraction and isolation or all records on file within any court, detention or correctional facility, law enforcement or criminal justice agency concerning a person’s detection, apprehension, arrest, detention, trial or disposition or an offense within the criminal justice system.” The purpose of an expungement is to provide a fresh start for individuals who have one or very few convictions. See New Jersey Courts, Expunging Your Court Record.

You will need to obtain a copy of your entire New Jersey criminal record from the state police. See NJ State Police Criminal History Records page. In order to obtain a copy of your record, you will need to be fingerprinted through IdentoGO.

What is the Benefit of Expunging My Record?

When a person’s criminal record is expunged, he or she can fill out school, job and housing applications truthfully without having to reveal that he or she was once arrested or convicted (with some exception).

What Records Can Be Expunged?

Indictable offenses, disorderly person offenses, municipal violations, juvenile delinquency adjudications, juvenile records, certain drug offenses for young offenders and convictions that underwent a supervised treatment program, conditional discharge or conditional dismissal may be expunged provided that the adequate time has passed since the most recent conviction, payment of fine, satisfactory completion of probation or parole or release from incarceration; whichever is later. Arrests not resulting in a conviction and special probation (Recovery Court) may qualify for immediate expungement.

Under the Clean Slate law, a person’s entire criminal record can be expunged if there have been no convictions for at least ten years, subject to certain conditions and criteria.

What Records Cannot be Expunged?

Certain criminal convictions are deemed not expungable according to New Jersey law. These crimes includes homicide, kidnapping, most sex crimes, robbery, arson, terrorism, perjury and others as listed by statute. If a criminal record includes any or these types of convictions, the entire criminal record cannot be expunged.

Does an Expungement Remove My Criminal Record Permanently?

When a criminal record is expunged, law enforcement authorities are required to keep the record private. However, under limited situations, the expunged records can still be considered by law enforcement agencies, such as when the person is later arrested, incarcerated, or applies for a job with a law enforcement agency.

How Long Does the Expungement Process Take?

 

It can take at least a year from the filing of the petition until the court enters an Expungement Order. In addition, there is a wait of at least six months for the New Jersey State Police to confirm that the State Bureau of Identification Files and the ldentification Division files of the FBI have been corrected to comply with the Expungement Order.