In order to expunge a felony conviction in New Jersey, an individual must not have been convicted of any “prior or subsequent crimes.” Thus, an individual cannot expunge a felony conviction if they have previously or subsequently been convicted of a felony conviction.  While it is clear that individuals who have been convicted or sentenced for multiple felonies on multiple dates are not eligible for an expungement, questions nonetheless remain.

Under certain situations, individuals in New Jersey can apply for the expungement of their mental health commitment records. The intent of these provisions is to eliminate any stigmas that might attach to a person who was committed to a psychiatric hospital. Expungement may be possible regardless of whether a commitment was voluntary or involuntary in nature.  In addition, it may be possible to expunge determinations of dangerousness.

On December 4, 2015, Randolph H. Wolf was selected to teach an expungement seminar on behalf of the Monmouth County Bar Association. The seminar was taught to approximately 30-40 other New Jersey lawyers who were interested in learning more about expungements in New Jersey in return for continuing legal education (“CLE”) credit. During the lecture, Mr. Wolf talked about the expungement process in New Jersey, eligibility requirements, and recent expungement case law and develo

Due to the numerous statutory requirements that exist in order to obtain an expungement in New Jersey, many individuals are unfortunately not eligible to have their record expunged. This can be due to the fact that they have a disqualifying conviction, have too many convictions, or because they have not yet met the time requirement for expungement.

Several counties in New Jersey have implemented a Drug Court program. In Drug Court, the State and criminal defense attorneys work together to help non-violent drug offenders, who are often addicts, by rehabilitating them, as opposed to incarcerating them or imposing other harsh sentences. The theory is that, without appropriate treatment, these individuals are bound to come into contact with the criminal justice system again

You must generally wait 5 years to expunge a conviction for a disorderly persons offense (or misdemeanor) or a petty disorderly persons offense. Effective April 18, 2016, however, the expungement statute was amended to provide for an “early pathway” disorderly persons expungement.  Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:52-3, you can apply for expungement of a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense after only 3 years – so long as certain conditions are met.

The expungement attorneys at Wolf Law represented a client in successfully obtaining an “early pathway” conviction of her felony conviction for unlawful possession of a weapon in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Wolf Law successfully represented a client in obtaining an early pathway expungement in Bergen County, New Jersey. The client was convicted of third-degree possession of CDS with intent to distribute in the Bergen County Superior Court in 2006. At the time of the offense, the client was only 20 years of age.

The New Jersey expungement lawyers at Wolf Law just recently represented another client in Mercer County on another successful “public interest” expungement of his conviction for third degree possession of CDS with intent to distribute. In the past, convictions for possession of CDS with intent to distribute were ineligible for expungement. In 2010, however, the law changed.

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Several years ago, New Jersey instituted a program known as Drug Court. The rules governing this program are now defined in one of the New Jersey laws, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14. Through this program, persons who commit certain types of crimes as a result of drug or alcohol addiction are allowed to participate in an approach that focuses not on punishments such as prison/jail time but instead focuses on helping them recover from addiction and lead productive lives.

The 2016 Amendments to the Expungement Statutes created an interesting issue that is just now being addressed. Prior to 2016, if an expungement was granted for an Indictable Criminal Offense (a felony), no other convictions of any type could be expunged. The 2016 Amendments permitted the Expungement of the Indictable Offense and up to two Disorderly Persons of Petty Disorderly Persons Offenses.

Major changes are coming to New Jersey Expungement procedures when the new Expungement Law Amendments become effective on October 1, 2018. Individuals who have completed Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) will finally have the chance to expunge their entire criminal records.

The new Expungement Law Amendments that become effective on October 1, 2018 will benefit clients who thought they would never be able to expunge their criminal convictions. People who have completed Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) will finally have the chance to expunge their entire criminal records.

On October 1, 2018, the law concerning this statue will change to make more Petitioner’s eligible to have their records expunged. This section of the new Expungement Statute deals only with persons who have never had a conviction for a crime, which in New Jersey is an indictable (felony) offense. If you have had an indictable conviction, you are not eligible under this section, but you may be eligible under 2C:52-2.

This provision of the Expungement Statute was adopted in 1979 in order to permit young drug offenders to have their records expunged without waiting the full time period (then 10 years) required for older adults.  

The New Jersey Legislature in its major overhaul of the NJ Expungement Law effective October 1, 2018, has made major changes to this statue which deals with indictable convictions (felonies). They can be summarized as follows.

Our office was contacted by a traveler who had previously been approved for Global Entry, but had his membership revoked. Global Entry is a program that permits expedited entrance through passport control in the United States. The program is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents, and citizens of certain other countries.

Our office has recently received many inquiries from individuals seeking an expungement of their New Jersey criminal record where the Petitioner also has a criminal record in the state of Pennsylvania. We have been fortunate to develop a working relationship with Attorney David B. Mueller, Esq. of Colgan & Associates of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania who has helped us determine if these out of State convictions bar a New Jersey Expungement.

What we have found is that while it is not required under the statute, most Judges we have appeared before want a report from a mental health professional to demonstrate that the person seeking the Civil Commitment’s mental health is currently stable and that they pose no danger to themselves or others.