New Jersey record expungement

In New Jersey, you can petition the court to expunge your record. In New Jersey, an expungement means that your criminal record will not be available to the public. There are different equirements for an expungement order depending on the crime that was committed.

Make sure you have all information linked to the record of your criminal conviction. Have information dating back to your arrest until disposition of your case through probation or parole.

The must obtain an expungement kit from the court in the county that you were convicted. This kit will have a packet of documents with the information and court forms required to petition the court for expungement. If you have a printer, you can just download the documents from the New Jersey Judiciary website.

You must then fill out the petition. After that, you have to file the form with the court in which you were convicted. Your signature must be notarized.

Fill out the Order for Hearing court form. Then the judge will have a hearing set for you in regards to the petition. Make sure you can fill out all identifying information you can on the form---your name and address, name of the court where you were prosecuted, prosecutor's name, among other items, but make sure you don't fill out the spaces for the hearing date and time and judge's signature area.

It's a good idea to make three copies of the documents. Go to the clerk of the court and file the original documents plus two copies. On your last copy, the clerk will give the hearing date information, docket number and mark that you have petitioned the court. Keep the last copy for your records. There will also be a filing fee to the court. Be ready to pay a filing fee to the court.

You need to make copies of your confirmed documents. Make as many as necessary to mail the documents to all governmental agencies that were involved with your arrest, conviction, and incarceration if there was any, and also probation and parole. A list of the agencies that maybe were involved in your case is included in the court's expungement kit. When you mail the documents to the required agencies use certified mail, with return receipt requested.

Once you have received all the certified mail receipts from the agencies you mailed the documents to contact the clerk of the court and see if you need to file the receipts prior to your hearing date. If you have to, fill out the Proof of Notice court form and file it with the court containing the receipts. If you don't have to, at the hearing date, bring the receipts to court.

Show up to the court hearing on your petition. If the judge asks you questions, be sure to be prepared to answer anything about the nature and circumstances of your conviction and also why you want to get your record expunged.