Expungement of New Jersey Juvenile Offenses
Our attorneys help people clear their records through expungement of their juvenile criminal histories.
What is an Expungement?
Under New Jersey law, an expungement is an order from the Superior Court of New Jersey directing the extraction and isolation of all of the files regarding your criminal history. These files cannot be accessed except in certain very limited circumstances. An expungement legally decrees that the arrest or conviction be treated as if it did not happen.
Expungement of Juvenile Records
Juvenile records can be expunged five years after a person’s final discharge from custody or legal supervision, or the entry of a court order for an offense not involving custody or supervision. Supervision after release from incarceration is not used to calculate the five-year period. If the adult equivalent for a certain offense would offer an earlier expungement, that period is used.
Why Get an Expungement
Expungments have many advantages. For instance, in most circumstances you will not need to disclose your criminal history on a job application (except for law enforcement or judiciary branch jobs). You can honestly answer that the conviction did not occur. The arrest or conviction will not show up in background checks (after the agencies have had time actually remove the records). An expungement allows you to get a firearms permit. You will be allowed to run for office. Your past offense will not prevent you from volunteering. An expungement can restore your voting rights. It can help in child custody disputes and college admissions. It can help you get mortgages and bank loans.
There are some situations where you must disclose a prior criminal matter, such as applying for a job in law enforcement or with the courts, or when applying for admission to the bar to become a lawyer. The prior history will be considered in these cases, but this does not necessarily mean you won’t get the job.
Criminal offenses don’t just disappear. You need to take action yourself. An expungement of juvenile records offers a person the opportunity to move past a mistake made when they were a teenager.
Procedure
First, we will need to get accurate information about your criminal history. You can help by bringing us all the records you have. We will then need to obtain your official criminal history. Once we have received all this information, we will prepare a petition for expungement and file it with the Superior Court of New Jersey. Once the petition is filed, it will normally take three to five months to receive the expungement, depending on how busy the particular court is. Normally you will not need to appear. The courts and law enforcement agencies involved in your offense will receive notice that you have made a request for an expungement and be given the opportunity to object, although objections are normally rare.
Contact Us
If you would like to expunge your juvenile criminal history, e-mail us or call (973) 890-0004 to set up an appointment. We can help.