Why are Expungements in New Jersey taking so long?

I have been handling the Expungement of Criminal Records in New Jersey for over 40 years. Every time I speak with a client, I like to walk them through the expungement process from start to finish. One of the most popular questions I get is how long does it take? My answer to this question has changed many times throughout the years. Before 2016 the answer was 4-6 months, then it became 6-9 months, then during Covid it was 2+ years. I explain that the length of time has nothing to do with the attorney or the client. The delays mostly center around the New Jersey State Police. Even with the creation of the digital expungement system where I can file an expungement the same day I am retained, it still always comes down to the State Police. For those unfamiliar with the Expungement process, the first step is to file the Expungement in the New Jersey Superior Court’s digital system (unless the matter is too old in which it requires a paper filing). When our office files the Expungement, all parties including all Courts, arresting agencies, probation departments, jails, the Prosecutor(s) of all counties in which an arrest took place, and the New Jersey State Police Expungement unit get a copy of the documents. Before 2022, the process was that the State Police would have run the client through the New Jersey crime computer and then notify the Prosecutor of any issues. The Prosecutor then sends out a letter of objection or a no objection. If a letter of no objection is filed, the Judge in the Superior Court then executes the Order Granting the Expungement.

The Order must be served on all parties which then takes the arrest, charges, and convictions out of their systems. Once the State Police remove the entries from the NJ crime computer, they notify the FBI which deletes the entries from the Federal NCIC criminal database. Like all other state agencies and courts, Covid basically brought the system to a halt. The expungement units, once they returned to work, went from being slightly behind to unable to keep up with the number of expungements. This was due to understaffing issues coupled with a liberalization of the New Jersey Expungement Law that suddenly increased the number of people eligible for an Expungement. During the height of Covid the new digital system was rolled out and the switch over to it caused additional delays. Our office noticed it was taking the State Police at least a year to first check the client’s criminal record and report to the County Prosecutor so the Court could sign the Expungement Order and then an additional year for them to remove the client from the New Jersey State crime computer after the Judge signed the Order.

The delays got so bad that the Legislature and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) finally got involved. New rules were passed giving the County Prosecutor only 60 days to object after they are served with the Expungement Petition. If they do not respond, the Judge is empowered to go ahead and execute the Expungement Order. The Prosecutor’s offices can no longer say that “we are still waiting on the State Police” as an excuse for the delays.

Unfortunately, this change only solved half the problem. While it was helped expedite getting the Expungement Orders signed, it did not address the problem at the back end of an Expungement – the State Police processing the Order and removing the entries from the State Police Crime Computer. This summer (2024) we observed that the State Police had finally finished processing orders from the year 2022 and started on 2023 Orders. They are still over a year behind at this point. Unfortunately, this means that even though someone has been granted an Expungement by a Superior Court Judge and has had the records deleted from the New Jersey Court System and the local police departments, the offenses will show up in an official New Jersey Background Check. In October of 2023, it was announced that the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender had filed suit which seeks an injunction compelling State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick J. Callahan to clear the backlog of nearly 50,000 expungement orders. It also asks for a Court Order requiring future expungements be processed in a timely manner to avoid another backlog.

We will continue to see how this civil lawsuit plays out, but it will take some time before a ruling is made. Additionally, once it is decided, it will take time to enforce and get through the backlog. If you would like to get an Expungement and want to know more about how long it will take, please feel free to telephone our office at 732-741-4448 or email us at Info@WolfLawNJ.com.