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A2000
ASSEMBLY, No. 2000
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
���� Clarifies court procedure for considering expungement
applications when no objections are filed.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning expungements, and amending P.L.2019, c.269.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1. Section 11 of P.L.2019,
c.269 (C.2C:52-10.1) is amended to read as follows:
���� 11. a. (1) No later than
twelve months after the effective date of this section, the Administrative
Office of the Courts shall develop and maintain a system for petitioners to
electronically file expungement applications pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-1 et seq.�
The e-filing system shall be available Statewide and include electronic filing,
electronic service of process, and electronic document management.
���� (2)� The system shall, in
accordance with N.J.S.2C:52-10, electronically notify and serve copies of the
petition and all supporting documents upon the Superintendent of State Police,
the Attorney General, and each county prosecutor as described in that section.
���� (3)� The system shall
electronically compile a listing of all possibly relevant Judiciary records for
an expungement petitioner and transmit this information to all parties served
with copies of the petition and all supporting documents in accordance with paragraph
(2) of this subsection.
���� b.���
(1)
Upon receipt
of the information from the court pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of
subsection a. of this section, the Superintendent of State Police, the Attorney
General, and the county prosecutor of any county in which the person was
convicted shall, within 60 days, review and confirm, as appropriate, the
information against the person�s criminal history record information files and
notify the court of any inaccurate or incomplete data contained in the
information files, or of any other basis for ineligibility, if applicable,
pursuant to N.J.S.2C:52-14.
����
(2) If, after 60 days, no
objection is filed by the Superintendent of State Police, the Attorney General,
or the county prosecutor, objections shall be deemed to be waived and the court
shall consider the petition in accordance with N.J.S.2C:52-11 or N.J.S.2C:52-12
on the 61st day after the petition is filed.� If the 61st day falls on a
weekend or a legal holiday, the court shall consider the petition on the next
business day that is not a weekend or legal holiday.
���� c.��� The court shall provide
copies of an expungement order to the person who is the subject of the petition
and electronically transmit the order to the law enforcement and criminal
justice agencies which, at the time of the hearing on the petition, possess any
records specified in the order in accordance with N.J.S.2C:52-15.
�(cf: P.L.2019, c.269, s.11)
���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill amends
N.J.S.A.2C:52-10.1 of the expungement laws to clarify the procedure for the
timely consideration of expungement applications.
���� Under current law, once the
State Police, the Attorney General, and the appropriate county prosecutors are
served with an expungement application through the Judiciary�s electronic
filing system, these parties have 60 days to review the petitioner�s criminal
history and notify the court of any inaccuracies or disqualifying information,
and to file any objections to the expungement, if applicable.�
���� Under the bill, if no
prosecutorial or law enforcement objection is filed within the 60-day period,
objections are deemed to be waived and the court will proceed to consider the
application.� The court may, pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:52-11, grant the expungement
without the need for a hearing, or, pursuant to N.J.S.A.2C:52-12, deny the
expungement if the court�s own review of the petitioner�s record shows the
petitioner is not entitled to an expungement.
���� In the sponsor�s view,
clarification of the procedures to be followed in accordance with the 60 day
deadline is necessary to provide guidance to all persons involved in the
expungement process, and to avoid unreasonable and unnecessary delays for the
granting of expungements when no basis for objections exist.