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Dismissals and Diversionary Programs Expungement

  • Dismissal of Criminal Charges expungements are governed by 2C:52-6 which provides that the records of the arrest and all court records relating to it are eligible for expungement immediately after the charges are dismissed with no waiting period.
  • Automatic Expungement. If the Dismissal took place after 2015, the court may have on the application of the person charged, entered and Expungement Order at the time the charges were dismissed. If the Dismissal takes place after June 16, 2020, the court should enter the Expungement Order even if not asked to by the defendant. If an Expungement Order was entered by the court at the time of dismissal, then no further action needs to be taken. If it was not, then the defendant must file a regular Expungement Petition to remove the records.
  • Dismissal by way of Plea Bargain. Many people are charged with numerous criminal offenses all at the same time in either Municipal or Superior Court. Often times, a plea bargain is worked out in which the person pleads guilty to one or more of the charges in return for other charges being dismissed. If this happened to you, then, none of the charges for which you were charged can be expunged until the charge or charges that you actually pled guilty to are eligible for expungement. At that time, all of the charges, both the ones that were dismissed and the ones that you pled guilty to can be expunged.
  • Dismissals by way of a Diversionary Program. New Jersey has three different types of diversionary programs available. Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) is available in the Superior Court for Indictable Criminal Offenses. Conditional Discharge is available for Disorderly Persons Drug Offenses both in the Municipal Courts and Superior Courts. Conditional Dismissal is available in the Municipal Court and Superior Court for Disorderly Persons Offenses that are not drug related. If you have been accepted into one of these programs, you can have all records relating to your arrest and entry into the program expunged six (6) months after you have successfully completed the program and the Court has dismissed all of the charges against you. There is currently no automatic expungement for these cases and you must file an Expungement Petition to obtain the Expungement.