Monmouth County NJ Expungement Attorney
If you have been arrested for a crime in New Jersey and those charges were ultimately dismissed, it is crucial that you file for an expungement of the underlying arrest. There is a big misconception out there that so long as the charges were ultimately dismissed, then there will be no “record” whatsoever of the charges. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Once an individual is arrested in New Jersey, and arrest record is created. That arrest record will remain in place until an individual petitions the court to remove the arrest. That is regardless of the outcome of the actual charges. So if you have been arrested for say a possession of heroin, burglary, shoplifting, underage drinking, possession of marijuana, aggravated assault, stalking, terroristic threats or theft by deception in Monmouth County and the charges were dismissed outright, an arrest record will still show up on your criminal history. Once the arrest record shows up, the damage could be done. For example, if you were going on a job interview and a criminal background check is run, the fact that there is an arrest will almost certainly hurt you regardless if the charges were dismissed or not. That is why it is absolutely crucial to remove any and all arrests off of your record as soon as you are eligible.
Unlike all other expungements in New Jersey, and individual petitioning the court to remove an arrest may do so immediately following the dismissal. In other words, there is no waiting requirement like there is when you are trying to expunge a felony, a disorderly persons offense or even a diversionary program. If you have the arrested in Monmouth County and would like to petition the courts to remove the arrest, the Keith Oliver Criminal Law can help. Our attorneys have been petitioning the Monmouth County Superior Court to expunge individual’s criminal history for years now. If you would like to come into our office, which is located at 109 Kings Highway in Middletown and speak with one of our Monmouth County criminal defense attorneys about your options, then please contact us at (732)858.6959. Now here is some information on expunging an arrest in New Jersey.
Do I have to wait to Expunge my Arrest in NJ?
The governing statute in New Jersey for expungements is NJSA 2C:52 and the specific section that covers arrests not resulting in convictions is NJSA 2C:52-6. The legislature has made it even easier over the years to expunge an arrest not resulting in conviction. Instead of going through the formal expungement process, an individual may seek permission from the Municipal Court Judge at the time of the dismissal to erase such record. However, it is important to note here that there is a difference when the charges are being dismissed as a result of a plea bargain and a result of being outright dismissed. If the charges are being dismissed as a result of a plea bargain, the individual would need to file the expungement petition the formal way. That means that at a best case scenario, an individual will need to wait at least three months before the arrest will be formally removed from their record.
One other thing that is important to discuss here is that if an individual has charged dismissed a result of successfully completing a diversionary program in New Jersey, like the Pretrial Intervention Program, the Conditional Dismissal or the Conditional Discharge Program, then the must file their expungement pursuant to NJSA 2C:52–6(C). The major difference is that an individual must wait six months prior before they can petition the court to file for the expungement.
Do I need to hire an attorney to expunge my record?
The simply answer is, no. The courts have made available online these expungement packets. These packets provide all the information needed to petition the courts in New Jersey to expunge an individual’s criminal record. With that being said, the process can become complicated very quickly. There are timelines, Courts and agencies that need to be served with specific documents at specific times. If a time frame is missed, you would most likely need to restart the whole process. If you would like to speak to one of our Monmouth County criminal defense attorneys about the expungement process in New Jersey, then please contact us at (732)858.6959.
Expungement Lawyers in NJ
A criminal record in New Jersey can only hinder an individual’s ability to be successful in life. The biggest mistake that most people make is waiting until the arrest record causes a problem before they seek to petition the courts to remove the arrest. The expungement process is anything but quick in New Jersey and as a result, often times the damage is done before it can be corrected. If you have an arrest record and would like to speak with one of our New Jersey expungement lawyers about your options and please contact us directly at (732)858.6959. We serve all of Monmouth County, including towns like Rumson, Little Silver, Deal, Manasquan, Belmar, Hazlet, Matawan and Lake Como.