New Jersey record-clearing statutes

These are the New Jersey statutes that govern expungement. Each entry links to the official text.

• Definitions of expungement — the chapter's first section; the records an order covers — 2C:52-1 to 2C:52-32.1
• Expunging a conviction for a crime — one crime with up to three disorderly persons offenses, the crimes in one judgment, or crimes closely related in a short sequence; the five-year clock and the four-year door; the crimes never expunged — 2C:52-2 Indictable offenses
• Expunging up to five disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offenses with no conviction for a crime; the five-year clock and the three-year door — 2C:52-3 Disorderly persons offenses and petty disorderly persons offenses
• Expunging a municipal ordinance violation after two years — 2C:52-4 Ordinances
• The young drug offender's expungement — a conviction for possession or use before the age of 21 — 2C:52-5 Expungement of records of young drug offenders
• The marijuana and hashish cases eligible for a petition under the 2019 law — 2C:52-5.1 Eligibility to file petition for expungement
• The clean-slate petition for all of a person's convictions after ten years, and the crimes that bar it — 2C:52-5.3 "Clean slate" expungement by petition
• The automated clean-slate process the State is to build, which ends clean-slate petitions once it exists — 2C:52-5.4 Automated "clean slate" process
• The expungement for a victim of domestic violence (L.2025, c.329) — 2C:52-5.5 Conditions for expungement of conviction, finding of guilt, or adjudication of delinquency
• An arrest that ended in dismissal, acquittal or discharge — expunged by the court when the case ends, or by petition at any time; the six-month wait after a diversion dismissal — 2C:52-6 Arrests not resulting in conviction
• The marijuana and hashish cases expunged by operation of law under the 2021 law — 2C:52-6.1 Certain crimes expunged by operation of law
• The petition for expungement — filed in the Superior Court where you live or where a matter was disposed of, verified, and what it must state — 2C:52-7 Petition for expungement
• The four sworn statements attached to the petition — 2C:52-8 Statements to accompany petition
• The hearing date the court fixes, 35 to 60 days after filing — 2C:52-9 Order fixing time for hearing
• Who is served — the Superintendent of State Police, the Attorney General and the county prosecutors — 2C:52-10 Service of petition and documents
• The Judiciary's e-filing system — it serves the petition, compiles the court records, and the sixty days the agencies have to check them; the order sent to the agencies — 2C:52-10.1 System to electronically file expungement applications
• The order granted without a hearing when no one objects — 2C:52-11 Order expungement where no objection prior to hearing
• No hearing while a charge is pending against the petitioner — 2C:52-13 When hearing on petition for expungement shall not be held
• When a petition is denied — 2C:52-14 Grounds for denial of relief
• What the agencies do with expunged records, and the proof of expungement the court gives you — 2C:52-15 Disposition of records
• The State Police's free portal for the status of your order — 2C:52-15.1 Online portal to obtain expungement order status
• The county prosecutor's duty to verify the petition — 2C:52-24 County prosecutor's obligation to ascertain propriety of petition
• The effect of the order — deemed not to have occurred — and its three disclosure exceptions — 2C:52-27 Effect of expungement
• No fee for applying for an expungement — 2C:52-29 Fees waived for certain applications
• The offense of revealing an expunged matter — 2C:52-30 Disclosure of expungement order