Pre-Trial Intervention will no longer bar Expungement of 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.

Currently, under N.J.S.A 2C:52-14(f), an expungement petition will be denied when “ a person seeking the relief of the expungement of a conviction for a disorderly persons, petty disorderly persons, or criminal offense prior to or subsequent to said conviction has been granted the dismissal of criminal charges following completion of a supervisory treatment or other diversionary program.” As a practical matter what this translated to is that once a client had successfully completed PTI, he or she could only expunge the PTI arrest itself along with Boro Ordinance or Juvenile convictions. Disorderly Persons convictions could not also be expunged.

In the new Amendments, N.J.S.A 2C:52-14(f) has been deleted by amendment, P.L. 2017, c.244. This will give petitioners the chance to have their disorderly person or petty disorderly persons offenses expunged along with their PTI arrest, and in many cases will result in our clients being able to completely expunge their entire criminal history and get a fresh start. It may even be possible to file new expungement petitions for individuals who had a PTI arrest expunged and have Disorderly Persons Offenses left on their record under the old law.

Please contact the Wolf Law at 732-741-4448 or email us at Info@Wolflawnj.com for more information and to see how the changes in the law may affect you personally.