Expungement Services to Apply to Remove/Erase Criminal Arrests and Convictions/ Retainer for Legal Services
Under NJSA 2C:52-1 past criminal arrests and convictions can be expunged/ erased under certain instances. We always recommend individuals hire an attorney to obtain an expungement. The Petition for all expungements are filed in the Superior Court. It takes a minimum of three months for the court to grant the expungement. The requirements are very formal. There can be a waiting period between 6 months up to 5 years after the criminal case is finished. For someone who had a drug charge, they can apply for Expungement 6 months after the Conditional Discharge is up. The statute requires detailed notices served by the attorney on the State Police, Attorney General and numerous other government entities.
$1,900 if paid within 7 days ________________________
[If we handled prior case, less]
Credit card or Check payable to Vercammen PC.
[Fee is less if we handled case previously or is charge was dismissed outright in Municipal Court within one month] This is for regular expungement, not the complicated Early Pathway Expungement of Indictable Convictions
Also you need to provide a separate check or money order for court fees:
-Check for $75.00 payable, Treasurer, State of NJ
-Check payable PostmasterEdison $70.00 for certified mail
This cannot be paid by credit card.
Please fill out blank lines on your computer or by hand and email or return to office to start Expungement. Then provide check or credit card info to fee.
You need to provide Superior Court & us with the Certified disposition if your prior offense was in Municipal Court. The Certified disposition should be provided to the Superior Court. To obtain the certified disposition, simply contact the Municipal Court. They will charge a fee of approx $10.00.
If you are unable or unwilling to do this, our fee to drive to the court to obtain the Certified disposition is an additional $300.
If your prior charge was in Superior Court, provide the Order of Dismissal if dismissed, or Judgment of Conviction JOC if a guilty plea.
If PTI Pre-trial intervention, provide copy of Order of Dismissal.
FILL OUT:
1. Petitioner's name is _____________.
any other name used___________________.
Current address ___________________________________
CITY _____________________________ STATE _______ ZIP __________
CELL-PHONE ________________________________ rev 8/20/19
OTHER PHONE-DAY __________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS ______________________________________________
REFERRED BY: _______________________________________________
2. Petitioner's date of birth is _______,
Social Security Number is ________
3. Petitioner was charged on [DATE] ________________ for violation of the following:
N.J.S.A. 2C: ______________
type of offense _________________
Town ___________________
Summons/ Warrant/ Complaint # ____________________
[Leave out traffic tickets ex 39:4-49.1. Traffic tickets cannot be expunged]
The original complaint number was ___________
4. This matter was in ___________ County .
5. This matter was heard in the ______________ Municipal Court on __________
6. On [DATE] ______, I plead guilty of the following offense: ________________________.
I was fined _____, costs of ______ and ______.
Or
on ________________, charges were dismissed
7. The following are all othercharges against me since I was 18 year old, even if the charge was dismissed or it was a Municipal Ordinance:
[IF NONE, WRITE NONE]
[OTHER PRIOR CHARGES] Petitioner was charged on ________________ for violation of the following:
N.J.S.A. 2C: ______________
type of offense _________________
Summons/ Warrant/ Complaint # ____________________
Other prior offenses:
This matter was in ___________ County , town ______________
Disposition/ result ___________________________________
[If none, write none, don’t leave blank]
The client must provide a written disposition to the court for all prior criminal charges, even criminal charges you were not arrested or fingerprinted. This is required by the Superior Court. All charges since you were 18 years old. The Law Office can obtain the a Certified Disposition for Municipal Court cases, or a Judgment of Conviction for Superior Court charges at a fee of $400 per court. It is usually more cost effective for the client to obtain the court records themselves.
If you do not list every charge against you since you were 16, the court or prosecutor will move to dismiss your petition. It will cost you additional costs and fees if you do not list every offense since you were 16. This even includes municipal ordinance tickets for drinking in public, etc
What we will do:
-Telephone consultation with client;
-Office consultation with client;
-Opening of file and client may have free client case folder, Municipal Court brochure, MVC Points brochure, and Website brochure;
-Review documents supplied by client and court;
-Review of necessary statutes and case law;
-Preparation of VERIFIED PETITION FOR EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORD PURSUANT TO N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6(a)
-Preparation of CERTIFICATION STATEMENT TO ACCOMPANY PETITION
- Preparation of ORDER FOR HEARING FOR EXPUNGEMENT PURSUANT to N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6(a)
- Preparation of proposed ORDER FOR EXPUNGEMENT
Prepare letter to Client with Petition, Statement to Accompany Petition of no pending charges, Order for Hearing, Proposed Order for Expungement
Client signs Petition Statement to Accompany Petition of no pending charges
Attorney calls Superior Court and confirm address for Expungement Unit.
We Mail to Superior Court Expungement Unit-
Orig. and one Petition
Statement to Accompany Petition
Order for Hearing
Proposed Order for Expungement
2 self-addressed stamped envelopes
Follow up Court Order for hearing (takes approx 30 days)
Expungement Services to Remove Bill
Upon receipt of signed Order for hearing, Prepare Certified Mail Green cards for documents to be served on law enforcement and court. -
-Preparation of letter with Order for hearing and proposed Order for Expungement to NJ Attorney General
Department of Law & Public Safety
Expungement Section- PO Box 080
Trenton, NJ 08625
- Preparation of letter with Order for hearing and proposed Order for Expungement to NJ Superintendent of State Police
Expungement Unit
River Road, PO Box 7068
West Trenton, NJ 08628
- Preparation of letter with Order for hearing and proposed Order for Expungement to County Prosecutor;
- Preparation of letter with Order for hearing and proposed Order for Expungement to Chief of Police;
- Preparation of letter to client with Order for hearing and proposed Order for Expungement to Municipal Court Administrator;
When all the green cert. mail cards come in we put date mailed to Law Enforcement. on form 6 (Cert.) and mail to Court . After receipt of all certified mail Green cards, Preparation of CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE OF ORDER FOR HEARING
We make copies of cert. mail green cards and letter before mailing out original green cards to court.
Misc phone calls to and from client
-Call Superior Court Expungement Unit to confirm they received green cards and no need to appear on hearing date if no objection.
If Expungement granted and receipt of signed Order for Expungement,
Preparation of letter with signed Order for Expungement to:
-NJ Attorney General by regular mail
Department of Law & Public Safety
- Preparation of letter with signed Order for Expungement to
NJ Superintendent of State Police
- Preparation of letter with signed Order for Expungement to County Prosecutor;
- Preparation of letter with signed Order for Expungement to Chief of Police;
- Preparation of letter with signed Order for Expungement to Municipal Court Administrator; and any other public entity requested by the court. Please note a Judicial Expungement granted by the Superior Court Judge does not change databases set up by private entities or credit agencies.
Preparation of End of Case Letter to client with original signed Order for Expungement and client questionnaire.
Please note we do not open a file and do not handle the case until all fees are paid in full up front.
Any other work not listed above will require additional fees or costs.
The client must provide disposition or copies of complaint for all prior Municipal court criminal charges, even criminal charges you were not arrested or fingerprinted. This is required by the Superior Court. For Municipal court cases, contact the Municipal Court and request a Certified Disposition. The Municipal Court may charge you a $10.00 fee. For Superior Court, the county Criminal records can provide you with a Judgment of Conviction [if you plead guilty] or an Order of Dismissal [if PTI]
All charges since you were 18 years old must be listed.
If you are not 100%
sure of your prior charges including town ordinances you may want to order a criminal history CCH on yourself when the expungement is started. The fee to obtain your criminal history is less than $75. For a Criminal History Contact
www.bioapplicant.com/njor call Morpho Trak at 1-877-503-5981. The law office cannot obtain a criminal history. Our Private investigator can do obtain a criminal history for you for an extra $900.
If the expungement is granted mail the expungement Order to the Law Enforcement entities. We recommend to all clients to also send a follow up letter and copy of Order for Expungement by Certified Mail to all above Courts and Law Enforcement so they have a copy for their records. The Law Office can handle sending the Order for Expungement by Certified Mail, return receipt request for additional fee of $250. You should also serve a copy on the credit reporting agencies that may list the arrest.
If the Court grants the expungement petition, the NJ police departments and NJ courts will be required to remove information from their records. The Court order does not pertain to online private companies or websites, which may contain old information. The Federal Government and immigration still has access to expunged /erased records.
If there are objections to the Expungement Petition by the Prosecutor or other entities and a hearing is required, additional fees will apply. They fee you paid does not include appeals if the court denies your petition.
Please note that a court ordered expungement applies to government and police records. It does not apply to private internet sites.
