2016 Changes to Expungement Law Means Shorter Wait to Clean Record
In about 90 days, changes to New Jersey expungement laws may be just the thing that many have been waiting for. Specifically, the waiting time to erase an indictable (felony) offense off your record will decrease from 10 years to 5 years. Prior to this, one could apply to expunge an indictable offense after 5 years, but this was called and early pathway expungement and was discretionary on the part of the judge. In fact, these early pathway expungements were not granted unless the petitioner could show compelling reasons that it was in the public interest to do so.
Under the new law, after five years, an expungement would be granted as a matter of law if the petition was properly completed and served.
Additionally, the waiting time to expunge a disorderly persons offense will be three years instead of five.