If you were convicted of certain crimes and successfully completed your probation, you may be eligible to remove—or expunge—the conviction from your criminal record. Specifically, New Jersey Statues §2C:52-1 allows for those convicted of a crime as a juvenile or adult to petition the Court to remove all records of the arrest, conviction, and punishment for the offense from official records.
An experienced Monmouth County expungement lawyer could help you clear criminal convictions from court records. To find out what may be possible in your case, speak with a dedicated criminal defense attorney to learn more.
Which Convictions May Be Expunged?New Jersey law allows most convictions for non-violent crimes to be expunged. Convictions for murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, sexual offense or crimes of violence may not be expunged. Anyone who is not sure whether a conviction can be expunged could retain an experienced Monmouth County expungement attorney to review their case and advise them of the likely outcome.
Through expungement, court records of eligible convictions may be removed and no longer available in any public records searches. Other records may also be expunged, including records of the arrest, records contained in correctional facilities, arrest warrants, fingerprint cards, and rap sheets.
Initial Steps to Expunge Criminal ConvictionsThe expungement process in New Jersey involves several specific steps that must be executed properly for the procedure to be successful. First, an expungement lawyer in Monmouth County could obtain records for a convicted party’s complete criminal history and determine if they have any recent offenses or charges pending. They may also obtain all probation records and court orders discharging that person from probation.
After determining which offenses are eligible for expungement, the attorney could prepare and file a Petition for Expungement in the proper court. This step of the process involves serving all required parties with the Petition to give notice of the proposed expungement.
The court in which the Petition was filed schedules a hearing to discuss said Petition and, if the court approves it, prepare an Order for Expungement. After serving the Order on all relevant agencies, a dedicated Monmouth County expungement lawyer could work to verify that all eligible convictions were in fact expunged pursuant to the Order for Expungement.
Recent Changes Effective in 2018 Benefit Expungement ClientsRecent developments in New Jersey law benefit people who want to expunge their criminal convictions. For instance, specific new changes to expungement law have reduced the waiting time to expunge certain felonies from 10 years after the conviction to six years after the conviction.
The new law has also increased the number of offenses that can be expunged. Prior to the change in the law, a convicted person could only expunge one felony conviction. Now, they may expunge more than one felony under certain circumstances. Other changes include allowing expungement even if some restitution is still owed and extends many of these changes to juvenile offenses.
The effective date for these changes to New Jersey expungement laws is October 1, 2018. Depending on their circumstances, it may benefit someone seeking an expungement to wait until the new law is effective to file their Petition for Expungement.
Contacting a Monmouth County Expungement Attorney for HelpGet in touch with an experienced Monmouth County expungement lawyer today to get started on your case. Your seasoned attorney could guide you through the expungement process and help you make effective decisions and take effective action to achieve a positive outcome.