Before April of 2016 when the criminal expungement statue, 2C:52-2- Indictable offenses (felonies), was rewritten, if a person had been convicted of an indictable offense, they could not expunge any additional convictions for disorderly person offenses or municipal ordinance violations. Following that date, Disorderly Persons Offenses could be expunged with an Indictable Offense, but it was questionable whether Municipal Ordinances could, and many Judges denied such expungements.
Under the amendments to the expungement statute effective June 16, 2020, it is clear that a Municipal Ordinance cannot be expunged under 2C:52-2 at the same time as an Indictable conviction. However, 2C:52-14 has been re-written to provide that a second expungement can be filed to expunge a Municipal Ordinance Conviction or a dismissal. We interpret this as permitting a second expungement after the Indictable Offense has been expunged to expunge the Municipal Ordinance conviction, however, there is an inherent conflict between 2C:52-4 and 2C:52-14 that has not been resolved by a court.
If you have previously been denied the expungement of a Municipal Ordinance because you were having an Indictable Offense, Disorderly Persons Offense, or Pre-Trial Intervention expunged, you can now file another expungement petition and seek to have the Municipal Ordinance expunged as well.
