ASSEMBLY, No. 5797
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JUNE 16, 2025
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Implements procedures and timelines for processing judicial orders of expungements.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Actconcerning judicial orders of expungements, amending N.J.S.2C:52-15, and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. A law enforcement or criminal justice agency shall promptly effectuate an order of expungement pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-15, and no law enforcement or criminal justice agency shall file an objection to a petition for expungement, where:
(1) the order was granted or the petition was made pursuant to the "Clean Slate" law, section 7 of P.L.2019, c.269 (C.2C:52-5.3), or upon discharge from a term of special probation pursuant to subsection m. of section 1 of P.L.1987, c.106 (C.2C:35-14), and:
(a) the convictions sought to be expunged consist solely of municipal ordinance violations; or
(b) the petitioner meets the requirements for an expungement pursuant to either N.J.S.2C:52-2, the "Clean Slate" law, or another provision of law, but has filed an application pursuant to only the "Clean Slate" law.
(2) the petitioner's biographical information is incomplete but nonetheless is sufficient to confirm the identity of the petitioner and the petitioner's records to be expunged;
(3) the petition lists sufficient information concerning the criminal case disposition to be expunged such that the agency is able to identify all records related to the case, as set forth in subsection b. of N.J.S.2C:52-1, that are subject to expungement;
(4) the petition seeks to expunge records outside of the agency's possession, custody, or control, or seeks to expunge records which by law may not be expunged; except that the agency shall expunge those expungeable records that are within the agency's possession, custody, or control, and shall provide notice of any applicable limitations to expungement to the petitioner and the court via the e-filing system established pursuant to section 11 of P.L.2013, c.269 (C.2C:52-10.1) and the State Police's Internet portal established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2025, c.38 (C.2C:52-15.1);
(5) the petition has been validly filed as to the petitioner but additionally names a person other than the petitioner for whom an expungement would need to be effectuated pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-16; except that the notice of the limitations to expungement with regard to the other named persons shall be provided to the petitioner and the court via the e-filing system established pursuant to section 11 of P.L.2013, c.269 (C.2C:52-10.1) and the State Police's Internet portal established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2025, c.38 (C.2C:52-15.1); or
(6) the agency identifies in a petition or order of expungement that a matter was transferred or remanded to another court and appears to be active or pending a final disposition in that court, or the agency is otherwise unable to find a record of the final disposition of the matter to be expunged, but:
(a) the petition has been otherwise validly filed pursuant to the "Clean Slate" law, and more than 10 years have passed since the date of the transfer, remand, or initiation of the matter for which the agency has records;
(b) the petition has been otherwise validly filed pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-2 or N.J.S.2C:52-3, and more than five years have passed since the date of the transfer, remand, or initiation of the matter for which the agency has records;
(c) the petition has been otherwise validly filed pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-4, and more than two years have passed since the date of the transfer, remand, or initiation of the matter for which the agency has records;
(d) the petition has been otherwise validly filed pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1980, c.163 (C.2C:52-4.1), and more than three years have passed since the date of the transfer, remand, or initiation of the matter for which the agency has records; or
(e) the petition has been otherwise validly filed pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-5, and more than one year has passed since the date of the transfer, remand, or initiation of the matter for which the agency has records.
b. Nothing in this section shall limit the ability of a law enforcement or criminal justice agency to file an objection where a disqualification to expungement exists pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-13, N.J.S.2C:52-14, or any other provision of law.
c. If a law enforcement or criminal justice agency files an objection to a petition, the agency shall notify the petitioner of the objection and the reasons for the objection. If the petitioner has no counsel of record, the agency filing the objection shall refer the matter to the Office of the Public Defender together with a copy of the petition and the agency's objection, and shall notify the petitioner of the availability of free legal assistance through the Office of the Public Defender. Notices required pursuant to this subsection shall be made via the e-filing system established pursuant to section 11 of P.L.2013, c.269 (C.2C:52-10.1) and the State Police's Internet portal established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2025, c.38 (C.2C:52-15.1).
d. A law enforcement or
criminal justice agency shall not be required to effectuate the expungement of
a conviction for any offense which is ineligible for expungement pursuant to
subsections b. or c. of N.J.S.2C:52-2, or any other provision of law.
2. N.J.S.2C:52-15 is amended to read as follows:
2C:52-15. a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, if an order of expungement of records of arrest or conviction under this chapter is granted by the court, all the records specified in said order shall be removed from the files of the law enforcement and criminal justice agencies which, at the time of the hearing of the petition, possess the records and shall be placed in the control of a person who has been designated by the head of each such agency. That designated person shall, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, ensure that such records or the information contained therein are not released for any reason and are not utilized or referred to for any purpose. In response to requests for information or records of the person who was arrested or convicted, all officers, departments and agencies shall reply, with respect to the arrest, conviction or related proceedings which are the subject of the order, that there is no record information. The court shall provide proof of expungement to the person whose records have been expunged or to that person's representative.
b. Records of the Probation Division of the Superior Court related to any court-ordered financial assessment that remains due at the time the court grants an expungement or sealing of records shall be transferred to the New Jersey Department of Treasury for the collection and disbursement of future payments and satisfaction of judgments in accordance with section 8 of P.L.2017, c.244 (C.2C:52-23.1). The term "court-ordered financial assessment" as used herein and throughout this section means and includes any fine, fee, penalty, restitution, and other form of financial assessment imposed by the court as part of the sentence for the conviction or convictions that are the subject of the expungement or sealing order, for which payment of restitution takes precedence in accordance with chapter 46 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes. The Treasurer may specify, and the Administrative Office of the Courts shall collaborate with, the technical and informational standards required to effectuate the transfer of the collection and disbursement responsibilities. Notwithstanding any provision in this law or any other law to the contrary, the court shall have sole authority to amend the judgment concerning the amount of any court-ordered financial assessment that remains due at the time the court grants an expungement or sealing of records.
c. (1) The Probation Division of the Superior Court and every law enforcement and criminal justice agency subject to the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section shall effectuate the expungement of records within 90 days of the date of the expungement order, or within such period of time as specified in the order, unless an application is made to the court for an extension of time prior to the expiration of 90 days or the period of time specified in the order. If the expungement can be timely effectuated pursuant to this section and N.J.S.2C:52-16, no extension shall be sought or granted.
(2) The court, for good cause shown, may grant a 30 day extension of time pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. Good cause for an extension of time shall include a showing that:
(a) a material discrepancy exists between information contained in the order and information possessed by the agency, requiring further review of the agency's records;
(b) additional or corrective information is required from the petitioner; or
(c) an amended order of expungement is required from the court.
Notice of the application for an extension, the specific additional or corrective information required from the petitioner, and instructions for the petitioner to provide the required additional or corrective information within 30 days, shall be provided to the petitioner via the e-filing system established pursuant to section 11 of P.L.2013, c.269 (C.2C:52-10.1) and the State Police's Internet portal established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.2025, c.38 (C.2C:52-15.1). If the petitioner has no counsel of record, the agency requesting the extension shall refer the matter to the Office of the Public Defender together with a copy of the petition, the order of expungement, and the agency's application, and shall notify the petitioner through the e-filing system and the State Police portal of the availability of free legal assistance through the Office of the Public Defender.
(3) At the end of the 30 day extension period, if the court determines, from its review of the matter and any additional or corrective information submitted by the petitioner, that it has sufficient information to issue an amended expungement order or determines that no amended order is necessary, the court shall issue the amended order or electronically notify all parties that no amended order is necessary. Otherwise, if a further extension has been requested, the court may schedule the matter for a hearing, as the court deems necessary, and may require the agency requesting any further extension to appear and show cause why the additional or corrective information submitted by the petitioner is deficient.
(4) The Probation Division of the Superior Court and every law enforcement and criminal justice agency subject to the provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section shall effectuate the expungement of records within 15 days of the date of an amended expungement order issued pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.
d. No later than three months after the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the following:
(1) a monthly breakdown of the number of expungement orders received by the State Police;
(2) the number of expungement orders pending processing pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section that have been pending for more than 90 days; and
(3) the number of expungement orders pending processing pursuant to subsections a. and b. of this section for more than 120 days.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.269, s.13)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill implements procedures and timelines for effectuating judicial orders of expungement. These procedures and timelines are derived from the settlement agreement reached between the State Police and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in the matter of A.A., et al. v. Callahan, docket no. MER-L-2001-23, in the Superior Court of Mercer County. In 2023, OPD sued the State Police over a backlog in the processing of expungements, whereby an order of expungement has been granted by the court, but the physical removal of an expunged record from State Police files was delayed and expunged records still erroneously appeared on background checks. The settlement was approved by the court on April 22, 2025, with a provision for an 18 month monitoring period supervised by a court-approved mediator.
Pursuant to the settlement, the State Police committed to processing each order of expungement within 120 days of receipt, resulting in the expunged portion of a person's computerized criminal history record being removed from public access. The bill codifies the procedures set forth in the settlement that are intended to streamline the processing of expungements in order to allow the State Police to meet this time frame.
Under the bill, the time frame for processing an expungement order is set at 90 days, but the State Police or other law enforcement agency may request a 30 day extension, such that the total processing time is 120 days. An extension may be granted if: a material discrepancy exists between information contained in the order and information possessed by the law enforcement agency such that further records review is required; additional or corrective information is required from the petitioner; or an amended expungement is required from the court. The petitioner is entitled to receive notice via the Judiciary's e-filing system and the State Police's online expungement portal of the extension request, along with the specific additional or corrective information that needs to be submitted and instructions for submitting such information. If an extension is requested but the petitioner has no attorney, a referral will be made to the Office of the Public Defender. At the end of the 30 day extension period, the court will issue an amended expungement order, notify all parties that no amended order is necessary, or schedule the matter for a hearing if the court requires further information. The bill requires that an amended expungement order be processed within 15 days.
The bill additionally streamlines the expungement process by prohibiting law enforcement agencies from filing objections to an otherwise valid expungement petition for certain technical reasons. The technical reasons listed in the bill are consistent with the terms of the A.A. settlement. If an objection is filed for other reasons, but the petitioner has no attorney, a referral will be made to the Office of the Public Defender.
Finally, the bill requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the number of expungement orders received for processing, and the 90 and 120 day backlog of orders awaiting processing.