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Expungement e-Filing for the VLJ Clinic Client

September 8, 2026 10:30 am - 12:00 pm Virtual 1

September 8, 2026 | 10:30 am - 12:00 pm Virtual

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) works to ensure that individuals experiencing poverty have equal access to the civil legal system. VLJ's expungement program, ReLeSe (Reentry Legal Services), clears criminal records for low-income petitioners, removing barriers to employment, education, housing and financial independence. During this hands-on expungement CLE training, attendees from Solstice Advanced Materials and K&L Gates will learn how to navigate the New Jersey eCourts Expungement System, complete the online filing process, and submit eligible petitions during the October 6th e-filing clinic. No prior expungement experience required. SPEAKERS  

Nathan Howe, Esq. K&L Gates Karen Robinson, Esq. Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

AGENDA 10:30 am

Welcome and Introductions

10:35 am

VLJ Overview

10:40 am

Importance of Expungement

10:45 am

Clinic Overview

10:55 am

Expungement Eligibility

11:20 am

E-filing through eCourts

11:50 am

Questions and Answers

Nathan Howe is an energy attorney and guides clients through the complexities of the evolving energy law landscape, advising on onsite, offsite, distributed, and utility-scale project development. Drawing on deep regulatory knowledge and a practical business perspective, he provides strategic counsel across a broad range of traditional and emerging energy resources, including gas-fired generation, solar, wind, battery storage, and alternative fuels such as sustainable aviation and maritime fuels. He regularly advises corporate offtakers on power procurement — with particular experience serving large-load customers such as data centers and industrial manufacturers — across a wide range of commercial structures, including power purchase agreements, energy-as- a-service agreements, and project acquisition agreements. He also counsels clients on related matters including multiparty collaborations, interconnection processes, and available incentives. In addition, Nathan advises clients on achieving their sustainability objectives, including navigating voluntary compliance frameworks for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and structuring environmental attribute transactions. He has also represented clients in energy regulatory matters before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the New York Public Service Commission, and other state energy regulatory agencies. He assists clients in all phases of these proceedings, including discovery, settlement, evidentiary hearings, and written submissions, from inception to resolution, as well as rehearings and appeals. Previously, Nathan served as an assistant prosecutor in Somerset County, New Jersey, where he handled a wide range of cases, including bench and jury trials, and high- profile homicide cases.

Karen Robinson is a Managing Attorney for VLJ and coordinates VLJ’s efforts for Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe) and the New Jersey Human Trafficking Survivors' Legal Assistance Program. Karen is a member of the Essex County Vicinage's Advisory Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement. Karen is also a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Essex County Bar Association, and Seton Hall Law Women's Leadership Committee. Karen is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Rhetoric and received her law degree from Seton Hall University.

Table of Contents Chapter 1: PowerPoint Slides ............................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Expungement Statute and Outline ................................................................. 25 Chapter 3: eCourts Expungement System User Guide .................................................... 31 Chapter 4: Sample Client Documents ............................................................................. 128 Chapter 5: Sample Clinic Forms ..................................................................................... 147 Chapter 6: Volunteering with VLJ .................................................................................. 151

CHAPTER 1 PowerPoint Slides

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September 8, 2026

Expungement e-filing for the VLJ clinic client

AGENDA

This presentation is sponsored by

ReLeSe is generously supported by

⚬ Welcome and Introductions ⚬ VLJ Overview ⚬ Importance of Expungement ⚬ Clinic Overview ⚬ Expungement Eligibility ⚬ e-Filing thru eCourts ⚬ Questions and Answers

TODAY’S

SPEAKERS

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Nathan Howe

Karen Robinson

Partner K&L Gates

Managing Attorney Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

ABOUT VLJ

OUR VISION & HISTORY Harnessing the power of pro bono for 25 years

Rooted in the belief that justice is a right, not a privilege, we envision a New Jersey where people experiencing poverty have equal access to justice. Since 2001, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) has handled more than 17,400 legal cases impacting over 38,000 neighbors and community members across New Jersey and beyond. This record-breaking level of service was made possible by our experienced staff and more than 2,500 committed volunteers who have donated 87,656 hours—equivalent to nearly 10 years of service—valued at $30.9 million.

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OUR MISSION

Partnering with volunteers, we deliver free civil legal help that protects rights, expands opportunity, drives economic mobility, and strengthens communities.

OUR TEAM

Teamwork makes the justice dream work VLJ’s team is comprised of 24 (and growing) highly skilled legal professionals who support and oversee nine pro bono programs while working alongside a dedicated panel of volunteer attorneys and paralegals addressing the unmet civil legal needs of New Jerseyans experiencing poverty.

OUR SERVICES

VLJ provides free civil (noncriminal) legal services to qualifying applicants

• Bankruptcy • Being sued for unpaid bills • Criminal record expungement • Divorce • Estate planning • Eviction defense • Habitability/apartment conditions • Legal name change We also have special programs for residents of Newark’s South Ward, survivors of human trafficking, and veterans.

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Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe)

Began in 2008 with Newark's then-mayor Cory Booker Provides a second chance through criminal record clearing One in three U.S. adults have a criminal record

WHY EXPUNGEMENT MATTERS

Impact of Criminal Record • Employment • Housing • Education • Professional License • Firearm License • Insurance • Voting • Immigration • Travel

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Criminal Records in New Jersey Last year: ⚬75,564 defendants received

171,754 charges ⚬ 44% BIPOC ⚬ 27% Female ⚬ 52% 35 years or older

⚬14,465 guilty outcomes

https://www.njoag.gov/justicedata/

ReLeSe Clients

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

In 2025, ReLeSe: ⚬ Opened 246 new cases ⚬ Closed 180 cases

Client demographics: 12

⚬ 40% Female ⚬ 90% BIPOC ⚬ 85% 35 years or older

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Benefits of Expungement Expands: ⚬ Employment and Wages ⚬ Housing ⚬ Education ⚬ Professional Licensing ⚬ Family Reunification ⚬ Community Safety Reduces: ⚬ Inequality ⚬ Homelessness ⚬ Recidivism 13

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Clinic Expectations

Clinic Client & Case File ReLeSe clients: ⚬ have a New Jersey criminal record ⚬ financially qualify for free legal services Clinic volunteers: • Submit a volunteer registration form: https://www.vljnj.org/volunteer-form Clinic case file will include: • VLJ Intake • Limited Scope Agreement • Clinic Assessment Form • Party Court History (PCH) • eCourts log-in

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Clinic Appointment Overview ￭ Team introductions ￭ Review limited scope agreement ￭ Log in and screenshare eCourts for Expungement ￭ Submit petition and proposed final order ￭ Save a copy of filing and return to VLJ along with clinic assessment form

Expungement Eligibility

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Eligibility

What cannot be expunged:

What may be expunged depends on:

Pending matters

Type of convictions

Federal and out-of-state records

Number of convictions

Motor vehicle

Waiting period

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Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Types of Convictions Indictable Crimes

Disorderly Persons Petty Disorderly Persons Local Ordinances

Felony

Misdemeanor

Superior Court

Municipal Court

Degree

No degree

Promis Gavel

Municipal Court Case Search

Barred Offenses

Controlled Dangerous Substances • Sale or distribution of a controlled dangerous substance OR • Possession thereof with intent to sell, expungement shall be denied

EXCEPT • 3rd or 4th degree • where the court finds that compelling circumstances exist to grant the expungement.

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Number of Convictions • To expunge disorderly persons convictions ONLY: ⚬ Up to 5 ⚬ Certain marijuana convictions will be treated as disorderly persons and not count towards the allotted 5. • To expunge indictable crimes convictions ONLY: ⚬ Generally one unless all crimes are listed on a single judgment of conviction or were interdependent or closely related in time and circumstance. • To expunge indictable crimes AND disorderly persons convictions: ⚬ 1 indictable and up to 3 disorderly persons • “Clean Slate” ⚬ No limit on number of convictions

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Waiting Period Type of Offense

Waiting Period

Indictable Crime Conviction

5 years (4 years for early pathway)

Disorderly Persons Conviction

5 years (3 years for early pathways)

Municipal Ordinance Conviction

2 years

PTI or Diversionary Dismissal

6 months

Dismissal

Automatic and no waiting period

Clean Slate

10 years and will eventually be automatic

Waiting period begins from completion of sentence: release from jail or prison, completion of probation or parole, or fine payment, whichever is later.

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice

Fine Payment Exception Applies when: • Substantially complied with any payment plan or • Could not do so due to compelling circumstances affecting the person’s ability to satisfy the assessment Court may consider: • the amount of any court-ordered financial assessment imposed • the person’s age at the time of the offense or offenses • the person’s financial condition • other relevant circumstances regarding the person’s ability to pay. Fine is NOT vacated by the expungement but becomes a civil judgment.

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Expungement Outline

e-Filing through eCourts

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Post e-Filing advice • Hearing date automatically set 60 days from filing date • Case status will say “pending prosecutorial review” • Petition is automatically served electronically on all noticed parties • Regularly check email and eCourts for notifications and case activity • Public defender will respond to objection on pro se litigant’s behalf if selected on petition • Final order will automatically served electronically on all noticed parties • If granted, New Jersey State Police has an Expungement Status Portal to monitor processing of final order • VLJ will check-in regularly for case outcome

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To volunteer:

vljnj.org/why-probono

THANK YOU!

Scan with your smart phone

CHAPTER 2 Expungement Statute and VLJ Outline

New Jersey Expungement Statute N.J.S.A. 2C:52-1 et seq. The complete statutory text is available on the New Jersey Legislature’s website available here

New Jersey Expungement Eligibility (Current as of March 2026)

1. Pending or open criminal matter? Not eligible. All criminal matters must have a final disposition (eg: guilty, not guilty, or dismissed). Needs referral to the public defender and/or county bar association lawyer referral service. If open matter is dismissed, it will automatically be expunged. (N.J.S.A. 2C: 52-6) 2. Federal or out-of-state record? Not eligible to expunge federal or out-of-state records in NJ. Currently there is no federal expungement statute. For out-of-state matters, refer to a legal services attorney in that state. If there is also a NJ record, the federal and out-of-state record must be disclosed and is factored into eligibility to expunge the NJ record. Note: The clinic case file contains New Jersey records only. Petitioner must be asked to disclose federal and outof-state information. If they are unsure, they may wish to obtain an FBI background check. 3. Only indictable crimes (also known as felony) convictions? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2) • If the final conviction (NOT original charge, which may get plead down) was for a barred offense under 2C:52-2, then no convictions are eligible for expungement. o These are usually violent crimes against people (eg: robbery, endangering the welfare of a child, etc.). • How many indictable crime convictions? o More than 1: If different arrest dates and arise from different events, may be eligible under Clean Slate, but not a regular/traditional expungement. o Only 1: Has it been 5 years from completion of sentence (eg: jail, prison, probation, parole, and/or fine payment, whichever is latest)?  Yes: appears eligible.  No: • Has it been at least 4 years? May be eligible for an early pathways expungement if there are compelling circumstances. • Has it been at least 5 years BUT for the fine payment? May be eligible if substantially complied with the payments or was unable to do so for compelling reasons. 4. Only disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons (also known as misdemeanor or petty misdemeanor) convictions? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-3) • How many disorderly persons convictions? o More than 5? May be eligible under Clean Slate

5 or less? Has it been 5 years from completion of sentence (eg: jail, prison, probation, parole, and/or fine payment, whichever is latest)?  Yes: appears eligible.  No:  Has it been at least 3 years? May be eligible for an early pathways expungement if there are compelling circumstances.  Has it been at least 5 years BUT for the fine payment? May be eligible if substantially complied with payments or unable to do so for compelling reasons.

5. BOTH Indictable crimes and disorderly persons convictions? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2) o More than 1 indictable crime and 3 disorderly persons – may be eligible under Clean Slate o Less than 1 indictable and 3 disorderly persons  Has it been 5 years from completion of sentence (eg: jail, prison, probation, parole, and/or fine payment, whichever is latest)? • Yes: appears eligible. • No: o Has it been at least 4 years? May be eligible for an early pathways expungement if there are compelling circumstances. o Has it been at least 5 years BUT for the fine payment? May be eligible if substantially complied with payments or unable to do so for compelling reasons. 6. Clean Slate (if not eligible for a regular/traditional expungement based on the criteria above): (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.3) • Barred indictable crime convictions under N.J.S.A. 2C: 52-2 = not eligible to expunge any conviction • Has it been at least 10 years from completion of sentence (eg: jail, prison, probation, parole, and/or fine payment, whichever is latest)? o Yes: appears eligible. o No:  Has it been at least 10 years BUT for the fine payment? May be eligible if substantially complied with payments or unable to do so for compelling reasons. 7. Dismissals? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6) o Eligible with no wait time. Recent dismissal may have been automatically expunged; older dismissals will need to be petitioned for expungement. 8. Pre-trial intervention (PTI), conditional discharges, and conditional dismissals? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6) o Eligible after 6 months from sentence completion 9. Municipal ordinance violations? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-4) o Eligible after 2 years from sentence completion so long as there are no indictable crime convictions and only up to 2 disorderly persons convictions  If there are more than 2 disorderly person convictions, may be eligible for Clean Slate

If there is an indictable crime conviction, will need two separate expungement petitions (can be filed simultaneously) to expunge the indictable crime first and then the local ordinance

10. Juvenile record? (N.J.S.A. 2C:52-4.1) o May be eligible (and are NOT automatically sealed) so long as the adjudication would be eligible if committed by an adult (not a barred offense). o There is no public access database to look up juvenile matters. They may appear on Criminal Case History (CCH) report or a Party Court History (PCH) report. Otherwise, petitioner must disclose in order for it to be included for expungement. Eligible  If petitioner can proceed self-represented (eg: access to technology, no language barriers etc.)  VLJ help create an e-courts account and will seek limited scope volunteer assistance to help petitioner e-file. If clinic volunteer would like to assist, please indicate on clinic form. Thank you!  If petitioner cannot proceed self-represented (eg: elderly, limited or no access to technology, language barrier, complex case, etc.)  VLJ will seek a volunteer for full representation. If clinic volunteer would like to assist, please indicate on clinic form. Thank you!

Ineligible  If untimely, advise how to best utilize the wait (eg: document evidence of rehabilitation, letters of support, volunteer, track job applications, etc.)  If ineligible, ask petitioner reasons for seeking expungement. VLJ can refer petitioner to community-based organization that assist with employment, housing, education, etc.

Unclear  Every charge must have a final outcome like guilty, not guilty, dismissed -- not “dispo unavailable,” “pending,” or “disposed,” etc. Complete records request form: https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/fil es/forms/10200_records_req.pdf VLJ will submit completed form via Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) post-clinic. Note: Petitioner should contact the family court directly for juvenile records.

 If ineligible, encourage petitioner to get involved in  advocacy. VLJ can help facilitate testimonials and other policy efforts in effort to change the law.

For every conviction, check sentence completion information to confirm waiting period has elapsed. Usually what is on the Party Court History (PCH) report will suffice.

If municipal fine payment is missing or inaccurate, check the Municipal Court Case Search database under the “payment” or “time payment” tab. For indictable crimes, Petitioner should contact the court and/or probation directly and submit proof of sentence completion to VLJ within 30 days.  If eligibility is inconclusive based on public access databases (Promis Gavel, Municipal Court Case Search, Party Court History, etc.), petitioner should get a fingerprinted criminal case history

(CCH) or nation-wide FBI report if there are out-of-state and/or federal charges. This will cost between $40-50. Ask petitioner if this fee poses a hardship and indicate response on clinic form. VLJ will be in contact to help make the fingerprint appointment. This outline was developed by Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission from VLJ.

CHAPTER 3 eCourts for Expungement User Guide

eCourts Expungement System for Self-represented litigant and Private Attorney Subtitle

Title of Presentation May 24, 2019

Topics •

Overview

•

Roles and Access

•

Navigation to the eCourts Expungement System Portal

•

Expungement Process: Creating and Submitting a Petition/Proposed Order for Regular Expungement Creating and Submitting a Petition/Proposed Order for Clean Slate Expungement Saving a Regular or Clean Slate Petition/Proposed Order for later submission

•

Email Notification

•

Case Representation

New Jersey Judiciary

•

eCourts Expungement System Portal In Progress Workbasket •

•

Refresh/Export/Sort

•

Pagination

•

Expand/Collapse

•

Upload Document

•

View Expungement Case Jacket

Expungement Portal

Overview • The eCourts Expungement System provides an automated mechanism for a Regular, Clean Slate, Recovery Court, Marijuana and Marijuana Decriminalization expungement petition/proposed order to be filed, reviewed, and processed by various user roles. • You can also submit an Amend Order on previously granted expungements for all the abovementioned expungement types. • Orders vacated by the Court will appear on your In Progress Workbasket with the status Order Vacated. • The filer (Self-represented litigant or private attorney filing on behalf of the petitioner) chooses cases to be expunged and submits a petition/proposed order that is reviewed by the Prosecutor. • The County Prosecutor provides a response to the petition/proposed order and uploads their response letter. • The filer can upload the “Petitioner Response Letter” in response to the Prosecutor’s objection. • Court staff can review the complete list of cases, save the final order for the judge to review, or submit an expungement decision on behalf of the judge to deny, dismiss or grant the final order for expungement. Court staff can schedule an expungement hearing manually outside the system. • Judges can review the complete list of cases within the petition/proposed order or submit an expungement decision to deny or grant the final order for expungement.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Roles and Access • Self-represented litigants can initiate and submit a petition/proposed order for Recovery Court, Regular, Clean Slate, Marijuana Decriminalization or Marijuana expungement using a criminal, municipal, or family (FO or FJ docket) case. • Private Attorneys can initiate and submit a petition/proposed order for Recovery Court, Regular or Clean Slate or Marijuana Decriminalization, Marijuana expungement using a criminal, municipal, or family (FO or FJ docket) case on behalf of the petitioner.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Navigation • Self-represented litigant enters login credentials established via the Self Registration portal and clicks the “Login” button. Once you click login select where you want the One time passcode to be sent to and enter it. • Private Attorney enters login credentials (valid attorney ID and password) and clicks the “Login” button. Once you click login select where you want the One time passcode to be sent to and enter it.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

New Jersey Courts – Portal Home Page • Tiles will be displayed based on Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney’s access. • Select the tile for “eCourts Expungement System.”

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

New Jersey Courts – Portal Home Page • Private Attorney will navigate to a verification screen to select the firm they are associated with and certify that the information is correct.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Expungement Home Page • Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney can select the appropriate tile for the desired action: • In Progress Expungements - access expungement cases that are still being processed • Initiate Expungement - create a new petition for expungement • Case Representation - associate attorney to an expungement case (this tile is only available for private attorney filers)

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Initiates Expungement Petition • • •

To create a new petition/proposed order, click the Initiate Petition tile. Select the Court/Division (Criminal, Municipal, or Family) of the case through which you are initiating an expungement petition. You can initiate the petition on any one of the petitioner’s cases. To return to the Expungement application Home Page, click the Cancel button.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Initiates Expungement Petition (cont.) • Enter the case number for one of the petitioner’s cases in the provided fields, then click the Search button and review the results. • To remove your result and start over, click the Reset button. • To proceed, click the Initiate button on the desired case/defendant record.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Initiates Expungement Petition (cont.)

• To start a new expungement petition, enter one of the below case identifiers and then click the Search button : • A primary municipal case, select Court/Division as ‘Municipal’ and enter a complaint number for the defendant in the provided fields, then click the Search button. • A primary family case, select Court/Division as ‘Family’ and enter a FO or FJ docket number for the defendant in the provided fields • A primary criminal case, select Court/Division as ‘Criminal’ and enter a PROMIS/Gavel (P/G) case number for the defendant in the provided fields, then click the Search button. • To return to the eCourts Expungement System Home Page, click the Cancel button. • To proceed, click the Initiate button for the desired defendant/case. Note: see image on next slide New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Initiates Expungement Petition (cont.) • The search result displays the case ID, Defendant name, indictment/accusatio n number, charges, arrest/issued date, disposition date. • Clicking on the twisty shows the Municipality/Court that the case belongs to.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Initiates Expungement Petition (cont.) • You can click on the Action Menu (three dots) to view charges associated with the case ID

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Select Expungement Type • Upon clicking the Initiate button, a pop-up window is displayed to select the Expungement Type – Marijuana, Clean Slate, Recovery court, marijuana decriminalization or Regular • After selecting a value, click the Confirm button

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Petition • •

The Defendant information section displays at the top of every screen with defendant details Name, SBI number, Date of Birth, Alias and other contact information. This section retrieves and displays the defendant’s information based on the information entered on the self-registration portal for the self-represented litigant or from the initiating case for the private attorney as filer.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Petition •

The “Add documents” link is displayed at the bottom of every screen. It allows you to add pertinent documents of PDF type to the expungement petition/case. • Click on the “+ Add documents” hyperlink to open the Upload Documents pop-up window. • You may also upload documents using the Action menu option in the “In Progress” Workbasket

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Petition • The Petition for expungement section displays details about the petition in the following fields (read-only): Filer, Expungement type, and Court/Division.

• The Filing county/court field is defaulted based on the county of the initiating case. • Click Next button.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases • Please review the “Disclaimer” section indicating that the system may not include a petitioner’s full criminal history and that a petitioner may still need to acquire this information separately.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) • The Retrieved Cases screen lists all the defendant’s cases the system has retrieved from various source systems. They are listed in sections according to type: Criminal, Municipal, and Family. • You may expand the case line entry using the twisty to see more information about the case. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) •

•

Criminal court cases display the Indictment/Accusation number (if available), charges, arrest or complaint issued date, disposition and disposition date on the case line entry. Clicking on view charges shows the associated complaint(s), full charge information (including charge disposition & sentence) and assigned court can be viewed by clicking the twisty Additional case details can be typed into the pop-up window. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) •

•

Municipal court cases display the linked Criminal case if applicable, charges, arrest or complaint issued date, disposition and disposition date on the case line entry. Clicking on view charges shows the complaint status, full charge information (including charge disposition & sentence) and expanding the case shows the assigned court. To see any additional cases associated with the Municipal case (e.g. Family FO/FJ docket), hover over the “Linked case ID” field New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) Family court cases display the defendant’s case relationship (codefendant, co-delinquent, defendant, or juvenile), charges, arrest or complaint issued date, disposition and disposition date on the case line entry. • Clicking on view charges shows the associated complaint(s), full charge information (including charge disposition & sentence) and expanding the case shows the assigned court. Note: For self represented litigant, FJ docket types (juvenile cases in Family division) are excluded; an FJ case will be listed on this screen only if the petitioner initiated the expungement with it. •

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) •

Use the check boxes on the left side to deselect a specific case or an entire section of cases and exclude them from the petition/proposed order. Then click “Next.” • Note: this feature is especially useful when erroneous cases have been retrieved, including those with other SBI numbers. Always verify each case’s SBI number.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Save/Cancel Petition/Proposed Order • As you move through the petition/proposed order screens, you will have the option to save or cancel at any time using the buttons on the bottom right. Remember to click “Save” before closing the petition/proposed order if you are unable to complete it in one session. The saved petition will display in your “In Progress Workbasket” with a status of “New.”

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Retrieved Cases (cont.) •

If you save the petition/proposed order and return to it after 24 hours, an informational message will display that advises additional cases may have been added to the source systems since the petition/proposed order was created. Click on the “Refresh” icon to refresh the data from the source systems.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Additional Cases Screen •

The next screen after you’ve reviewed the retrieved cases is the “Additional Cases” screen. This screen provides options to add additional cases that were not systematically retrieved to the petition/proposed order.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Additional Cases Screen (cont.) •

To conduct a system search for a specific case, select “Criminal,” “Municipal,” or “Family” from the “Court/Division” dropdown menu, enter the required data in the fields that display, and click “Search.” To add the case to the petition/proposed order, click “Add.”

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Additional Cases Screen (cont.) •

To remove an added case, click “Remove.”

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Additional Cases Screen (cont.) •

To manually add an out-of-state case or an in-state record that has not been successfully retrieved, select “Other (Out-Of-State)” or “Arrest only records/Older cases” from the drop-down menu as applicable. Enter the required data in the fields that display. To add the result to the petition/proposed order, click “Add.” To remove it, click “Remove.” Click “Next” to move on to the following screen.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Case List Screen • • •

This screen displays the cases the petitioner selected on the Retrieved Cases screen as well as any cases added on Additional Cases screen. All the cases listed are included in the Petition (PDF document). Only the cases selected via the check box are included in the Proposed Order.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Case List Screen • Click on the Action Menu (three dots next to View Charges button) and the then click on Edit arrest/issued date to select and save the Arrest/Issue date. This date gets updated in the Proposed order and the Petition

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Case List Screen (cont.) • The petition PDF will display all cases that were identified and added. • For clean slate expungements, the case list screen will pre-select all cases and you can choose to deselect cases to appear on the proposed order. • For regular expungements, cases will not be selected on the case list screen and you will have to select the cases that you wish to include on the proposed order. • Review this screen carefully to be sure the case list is complete and accurate. Selected cases will display on the Proposed Order. • If any cases are missing an arrest date, you must click the pencil icon to add it. If an arrest date is not available, use the complaint issue date. Then, click “Next.” New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Verification Screen • The Verification screen enables the user to certify and verify statements and provide supplemental information for some of the selected statements. The first statement in the Certification and Verification sections are mandatory. • The language on the screen will be different based on the filer. • The screen will capture Certification that they have provided truthful information. • Verification that there are no disorderly persons, petty disorderly person, indictable charges or juvenile delinquency matters currently pending against them • The petitioner may check off additional optional statements regarding: • Previously granted sealing/expungement/relief in any state or federal court. • Legal name change. • More than three years but less than five years having elapsed since last conviction/incarceration/etc. • Inclusion of a third or fourth degree controlled dangerous substance crime in the expungement. • Representation by Public Defender if petition is returned (OPD consent). New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant – Verification Screen

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney– Verification Screen

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Proposed Order Screen •

Click Next to move on to the “Proposed Order” screen which facilitates the following: •

Identifies parties who must be notified that the petition/proposed order has been filed. To add additional parties, click Other applicable party(ies) drop down or click +Add party.

•

Allows you to enter details regarding the defendant’s outstanding financial obligations to the court at the time of filing.

New Jersey Judiciary

eCourts Expungement System

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Proposed Order (cont.) •

Click Preview Proposed Order button to open a draft version of the proposed order. The selected cases from the Case List screen will be displayed on the PDF.

•

Click the Preview Petition button to open a draft version of the petition PDF.

•

Click the PCH Report(this is only visible to private attorney) button to view the Party court history report(you cannot submit without viewing it)

•

The Submit button can only be clicked after you click the PCH Report, Preview Proposed Order, and Preview Petition.

New Jersey Judiciary

eCourts Expungement System

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Proposed Order pdf •

A draft of the Proposed Order PDF that will be generated when you submit the petition/proposed order will open when the Preview Proposed Order button is clicked. It is important to preview the PDF to be certain all necessary information is included.

New Jersey Judiciary

eCourts Expungement System

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Petition pdf •

A draft of the Petition PDF that will be generated when you submit the petition/proposed order will open when you click on the Preview Petition button. It is important to preview the PDF to be certain all necessary information is included. The PCH report is appended to this PDF.

New Jersey Judiciary

eCourts Expungement System

Private Attorney - PCH pdf

New Jersey Judiciary

eCourts Expungement System

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Submits Petition/Proposed Order •

Once you have previewed the drafts of the Proposed Order and Petition, click “Submit.” This will open a pop-up window to confirm or cancel your submission. If you choose to cancel, you will return to the petition/proposed order and may make any necessary changes.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Submits Petition/Proposed Order (cont.) • • •

Upon confirmation and submission, the system will display a success message at the top of the screen indicating the petition/proposed order was successfully submitted. The system will also generate a unique expungement case number. The petitioner will be sent an email notification after the petition is submitted, when the prosecutor submits response, when the order is finalized, or when the expungement case is withdrawn. An electronic copy of each notification is saved to the expungement case jacket.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant- In Progress Workbasket •

After the petition/proposed order is submitted, return to the Expungement Home Page and select “In Progress Expungements” tile.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney –In Progress Workbasket •

After the petition/proposed order is submitted, return to the Expungement Home Page and select “In Progress Expungements” tile.

• The expungement cases are removed from the default view, 7 days after it is "Order Denied", "Withdrawn", "Order Granted", or "Amended order Granted". They can be searched for, indefinitely.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Workbasket columns The following columns are displayed by default: • Expungement number: the system-generated case number when the Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney submits the petition/proposed order. • Defendant: Defendant’s name in the format of First name, Middle initial, Last name. • SBI: Unique identifier for the defendant assigned by the State Police. • Filing date: Date when the petition/proposed order was filed and submitted. Default sort is by earliest date. • Expungement Type: identifies the type of expungement (i.e. Marijuana, Regular, or Clean Slate). • Status: indicates the petition’s/proposed order’s status as it moves through the stages of the process: • New, Pending Prosecutor Review, Awaiting Judicial Decision, Order Denied, Order Granted, Expunged, Draft Amended Order, Amended Order Prosecutor Review, Amended Order Petitioner Response, Amended Order Judicial Decision, Amended Order Granted, Order Vacated. • Hearing Date: Date when the prosecutors are supposed to process the expungement. • The expungement application never actually schedules a hearing. • The court can update this date and schedule a hearing date outside of the Expungement System. • Attention: Displays an icon to the user: • Displays when Prosecutor submits an objection response

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Expungement In-Progress Workbasket

• You can add/remove ‘Filer’ and ‘OPD Consent’ under the Fields tab to add/remove these as columns in your work basket.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

In Progress Workbasket (contd.)

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

In Progress Workbasket (contd.) • •

You can view the Attorney of Record by clicking on the Additional Details modal The Attorney of record will be blank when a self-represented litigant submits a petition, and the petition is retained by the self-represented litigant

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

In Progress Workbasket • You can Group By, add or remove fields to the column, change the density by clicking Show More/less of the Workbasket display and create, modify, and remove your Views. A new modal window displays the Additional Expungement data, such as Defendant DOB, Filing County/Court, and Decision date. All other functionality Remains the same.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Submits Petition/Proposed Order (cont.) • Once an expungement has been filed it flows to the County Prosecutor's work basket in Pending Prosecutor Review status who can then either return it to the petitioner(to the County Public Defender's work basket in case of a self represented litigant filed expungements) or submit it to the court who can then grant, deny or dismiss it. When it is returned to the petitioner it will be in Pending Petitioner Response status. • Private attorney can work on it by clicking on the 'open' button shown below in their workbasket:

• The petitioner can resubmit to the prosecutor after making changes, if any, to the expungement. Now the petition will be in Revised Petition Prosecutor Review Status.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Submits Petition/Proposed Order (cont.) • If the Prosecutor returns the petition again, the Petitioner has the option to submit the petition directly to the court by clicking 'Submit to the court' radio button in the proposed order screen. • When submitted to the court, the petition will be in 'Awaiting Judicial Decision Status • Petitioner can also submit to the prosecutor again by selecting the other radio button.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Change Petition Status • Court staff and Judge have the ability to manually change the status of petitions. • From Pending Prosecutor Review, the status can be updated to: Pending Petitioner Response or Awaiting Judicial Decision. • From Revised Petition Prosecutor Review, the status can be updated to: Pending Petitioner Review or Awaiting Judicial Decision. • From Pending petitioner response, the status can be updated to: Revised petition prosecutor review or awaiting judicial decision. • From Awaiting judicial decision the status can be updated to: Revised petition prosecutor review or Pending Prosecutor Review or Pending petitioner response. • Whenever court staff changes the status a case jacket entry will be added denoting the change. Whenever the status is changed to Pending Petitioner Response an email notification will be sent to the petitioner(Private Attorney if the expungement was initiated by private attorney, else to County Public Defender if it was initiated by a Pro Se user)

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Expungement Notifications The Expungement Notifications workbasket will display records for expungement cases after the petition/proposed order is submitted. Notified parties will open and review the petition. These parties (listed below) and other agencies will also be notified when the final order is granted. • • • • • • • •

Attorney General Superintendent of State Police, Expungement Unit County Prosecutor Administrator of the municipal court Chief of Police or other head of the police department Warden or Superintendent of County Jail County Probation Division Division of Criminal Justice, Records Identification Unit

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Pro Se Litigant Process Flow • While initiating an expungement, you can select an option consenting to allow County Public Defender to handle the expungement petition if the petition is returned by the Prosecutor on the ‘Verification’ screen. By selecting the checkbox, the County Public Defender can assign themselves to the case if the petition is returned.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Pro Se Litigant Process Flow – (contd.)

• Self-Represented Litigants will retain your submitted expungement petitions once returned by the Prosecutor. If a prosecutor returns the petition, the you will see the ‘Open’ button enabled and be able to work on the petition. • If you have given consent to allow the County Public Defender to represent you on the expungement case, the County Public Defender can assign themselves to your case.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Pro Se Litigant Process Flow – (contd.) • If the petition is returned, email notifications are sent to the corresponding County Public Defender’s generic email as well as the self-represented litigant with the consent, either yes or no, and contact information so the County Public Defender can contact the user regarding their expungement petition.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney – Workbasket Search • A self-represented litigant does not have the functionality to search for a case. • A private attorney can click the “Add/Change” link next to “Search by” to open a Search parameters popup window.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney – Workbasket Search(cont.) • Court/Division defaults to “Criminal” • Expungement Type defaults to “ALL”

• Filing county/court defaults to “ALL” • Click +Add search criteria link to choose additional criteria • Select a value from the “Search criteria” drop down list and enter the desired search criteria • Defendant name, SBI number, Status (of the case) New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney – Workbasket Search (cont.) •

Click the Search button when done entering the search criteria and return to the Workbasket with results matching your criteria.

•

Click the Reset button to clear the search parameters entered previously.

•

Click the Close button to close the Search parameter popup window and return to the Workbasket.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney – Workbasket Search (cont.) • The Workbasket screen displays the search results matching the criteria entered. • The # of results found is displayed. • To clear the search criteria, click the “X” next to the criteria or select “+Add/Change” and click the Reset button from within the Search popup window.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Workbasket Refresh/Export/Sort •

Click the Refresh link to refresh the page with the latest information. This action will: • update the petition status. • display any new petition that was submitted. • remove any petition that was withdrawn.

•

Click the Export icon next to Refresh to download an Excel file with the Workbasket information.

•

Click the sort icon on the Filing Date or Status column to sort the Workbasket information in ascending or descending order by that header. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Workbasket Pagination • The Workbasket displays ten records per page, when there are more than ten records, click << < Page 1 of N > >> to navigate to first, previous, next and last pages.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney - Workbasket Expand/Collapse • Click the twisty to expand the petition information for a defendant to view more details. • Date of birth; Filing county/court; Prosecutor response, Hearing date • When no value is returned, two dashes will be displayed (e.g. see Hearing date below)

• Click the

New Jersey Judiciary

twisty again to collapse the petition information.

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Workbasket – Action Menu •

The petition/proposed order status submitted by the petitioner is in “Pending Prosecutor Review.” The “Open” button will no longer be accessible, but you may still use the Action menu to:

• • •

Upload relevant documents View the case jacket Withdraw the petition/proposed order if necessary.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Add/Upload document • Regardless of whether Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney adds document from within the case or uploads from the In Progress Workbasket, the system will present the same “Upload Document” pop up window. You can only upload documents in a PDF format and they will be saved to the case jacket. • Click “Select file(s)” to browse the file explorer and find the file or drag and drop the desired file into the middle section with the paper clip.

• Note: You can utilize this function to upload a Petitioner Response Letter if there is a Prosecutor’s objection. • Enter the Filed Date and Document Type from the available list of options then click the Save button. • When Document type of “Other” is selected, the Document description is required. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

View Expungement Case Jacket • From the Workbasket, choose the action “View Expungement Case Jacket”, then click on the “Documents” tab. Below is a description of each column header. • Filed Date – date the petition is filed. • Defendant Name – name of the defendant whose petition is filed. • Filings – displays a paper clip of the PDF document attached to the entry and also an envelope icon if there is an electronic copy of an email. • Docket Text – description of the action or event initiated by various users. • Transaction ID – the unique, system generated identifier for the event. • Entry Date – the date the entry was created. • Entered by – displays the user who initiates the action.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

View Expungement Case Jacket • Click the column header to sort the columns in ascending or descending order. Default sort is by earliest Entry Date • Click the paper clip to view the PDF associated with a particular entry. • Click the envelope icon (if applicable) to view the PDF of the electronic notification sent out to the self-represented litigant or private attorney. The petitioner will receive email notification when the petition is submitted, prosecutor response is submitted, when the final order is granted or denied, or when the petition is withdrawn. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

View Expungement Case Jacket - Example

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Withdraw Petition • To withdraw a petition, click the icon to the right of the Open button and select “Withdraw Petition” option.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney – Withdraw Petition (cont.) • After clicking Withdraw Petition action from the Workbasket a confirmation pop up window is displayed. Review the information then click the Confirm button. • The case is automatically removed from the workbasket but can be searched by the Private Attorney, if needed.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association You can use Case Representation tile for the below scenarios: • To assign yourself or assign any other attorney of your firm to a case • File a Substitution of Attorney – when an attorney is already assigned to a case that is not associated to your firm, you will have to upload a substitution of attorney letter Note: An Attorney who files the petition is the Attorney of Record by default. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) Attorneys can associate themselves or members of their firm to an expungement case. You can assign an attorney or substitute an attorney for an expungement case in the following statuses:

Pending Prosecutor Review

Order Dismissed

Pending Petitioner Response

Draft Amended Order

Revised Petition Prosecutor Review

Amended Order Prosecutor Review

Awaiting Judicial Decision

Amended Order Petitioner Response

Order Granted

Amended Order Judicial Decision

Order Denied

Pending Amended Order

Order Dismissed

Amended Order Granted

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association- (Contd.) • You can search any case by the Expungement case number

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) • When Attorney of Record (AOR) is set, you can click on twisty to check new Attorney of Record in this additional details modal

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) • Click on the “Refresh” icon to refresh the work basket items. • Click on ‘Default View’ dropdown to select current view as ‘Default’ or select ‘Save as new view’ to save a new view.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.)

• If no Attorney of Record is associated to any case, you will see two options: 1. Associate myself to case

2. Assign another attorney from my office to case • If you want to Associate yourself to any case, please select ‘Associate myself to case’, check ‘Verification’ checkbox and then click on ‘Confirm’ New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) • If you want to ‘Assign another attorney from your firm/office’ to any case, please select attorney name from the list. • Select ‘Verification’ checkbox and click on ‘Confirm’.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) • A confirmation message will appear that the Attorney of Record was successfully updated

• You can click on ‘Assign New Attorney’ to associate yourself or any other attorney from your firm to any case

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.) • If there is an Attorney of Record on a case which is also not associated to your firm, you can substitute yourself to that case by selecting ‘Substitute myself as attorney’ • Click on ‘Add Document’ to upload ‘Substitute of Attorney’ letter New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association- (Contd.) • Click “Select file(s)” to browse the file explorer and find the file or drag and drop the desired file into the middle section with the paper clip • Enter the Filed Date and Document Type will always be ‘Substitution of attorney letter’ by default • You can put a short description of the type of document

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association- (Contd.) • Check ‘Verification’ checkbox and then click on ‘Confirm’ • Success message with Substitution of attorney of Record update will appear to confirm Attorney Association.

• You can click on ‘Assign Anew Attorney’ to associate yourself or any other attorney from your firm to any case

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Private Attorney- Case Representation -Attorney Association(Contd.)

• A case jacket entry will be added each time a new attorney is assigned and/or a substitution of attorney is filed. An email notification is sent as well.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Submit a Proposed Amended Order

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order

• Petitioners can file a proposed amended order on an order that was previously granted or amended order granted. Each Expungement type; Regular, Clean Slate, Marijuana, Marijuana Decriminalization, Recovery Court (previously Drug Court) can be amended. • If you save or upload document after initiating amendment the case status will change to "Draft Amended Order" until it's submitted. Other users will still see case in prior status 'Order Granted' or 'Amended Order Granted'.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Petition Screen • After initiating an Amendment, Petition screen is displayed with Defendant information, Case information, Quick link to Case Jacket and hyperlinks to generated documents by Related links New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Petition Screen (Contd.) • You can now change the Expungement Type from Clean Slate to Regular and vice-versa when initiating a proposed amended order • When the proposed amended order is submitted with updated Expungement Type, a case jacket entry is added indicating the change. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Additional Cases • Any Criminal, Municipal, Family and older Arrest only cases can be added on Additional cases screen.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Case List • On Case list screen, any cases added on Additional cases screen will be displayed under section 'Newly added cases'.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Case List (cont.) • 'Cases from latest order' section Cases can be de-selected from 'Cases from latest order' section.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Case List (cont.) • Clicking on any cases' view charges modal window shows the associated case details, full charge information (inc luding charge disposition & sentence) and expanding the case shows the assigned court. Any additional information can be entered in textbox.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Proposed Order • On Proposed Order screen, Amendment Reason text must be added, which will be displayed on Proposed Amended Order pdf. Notified agencies from prior Order and related to Newly added cases will be displayed under listed Notified agencies, but any additional Notified agencies can be added manually by using Other applicable party(ies) option. • Financial obligations/Restitution Details can also be added as applicable. New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – PDF • The new Amended Proposed Order PDF will also display the following: o Amendment Reason o Newly added cases and cases from last order o Newly added notified Agencies and added Financial obligations/Restitution details o Cases to be restored (when cases are removed from the original order to not be a part of the amended order)

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Amend Statuses • When the Proposed Amended Order is submitted, there will be a case jacket entry with attached document and email notification is sent to the filer.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Self-represented litigant/Private Attorney Amend Proposed Order – Amend Statuses •

Case status update for Recovery Court, Regular and Clean Slate expungements changes to Amended Order Prosecutor Review and for Marijuana and Marijuana expungements changes directly to Amended Order Judicial Decision.

•

If the Prosecutor objects/returns the petition back, the status will display as Amended Order Petitioner Response, a new case jacket entry will be added, and an email notification is sent to the filer.

•

A granted Amended Order will have the status Amended Order Granted.

•

If an amendment is denied by the court, it will revert to its previous granted status.

•

An order can be amended multiple times.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Order Vacated • When the Court vacates an Order, the expungement case's status will be updated to "Order Vacated." • The Order Vacated statuses will be overwritten when a new expungement order is submitted.

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

Technical Assistance If you require technical assistance with the Expungement Portal, please contact the Help Desk: Judiciary Help Desk: 609-421-6100 After Hours: 1-800-343-7002

New Jersey Judiciary

Expungement Portal

CHAPTER 4 Sample Client Documents

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Public Access Databases Municipal Court Case Search (MCCS) - https://portal.njcourts.gov/webe5/MPAWeb/index.jsp



  

 



Searches NJ disorderly persons, petty disorderly persons, local ordinance violations and traffic. o Look for Title 2C criminal charges. For purposes of expungement, you can disregard traffic matters (Title 39) but note parking and local ordinance may look similar – read through the offense description. Multiple counts may appear under one summons/complaint/warrant number o If so, click through each tab. There are also tabs at the bottom that may be helpful (eg: fine payment for a guilty conviction will help determine when sentence was completed). Disposition may say disposed - click circle for how it was disposed (guilty, not guilty, dismissed, etc.). o If Disp at Superior Court, search the Superior Court database Promis Gavel. Name searches may be inaccurate, not exhaustive or inconclusive. o Ask about middle initial, suffixes, aliases including maiden name, etc. What do the case numbers mean? o Start with the Prefix S for summons, C for complaint or W for warrant. o The first 4 numbers are the year (eg: 2022) o The middle numbers are the sequence o The last 4 numbers are the municipal court’s code (eg: 0714 is Newark) Search results may be exceeded and not show any results in which case more information (record requests, fingerprint report, etc.) may be needed.

Public Access Databases Promis Gavel - https://portal.njcourts.gov/webe4/ExternalPGPA/CaptchaServlet

  

 

Searches NJ indictable crime convictions (and sometimes downgraded municipal charges). Name searches may be inaccurate or inconclusive - ask about middle initial, suffixes, aliases including maiden name, etc. CDR searches use municipal complaint, summons, or warrant numbers – if you’re looking up a record found in MCCS, search using this number (particularly if you cannot find results under a name search). Arrows go up and down the pages. Make sure you keep viewing until the end of the results. “Charges” tab shows the accusation and the indictment details. “Event Detail” and “Sentence” also show helpful information if there’s a conviction with a sentence.

CHAPTER 5 Sample Clinic Documents

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice P.O. Box 32040, Newark, NJ 07102 Phone (973) 645-1955 Fax: (973) 645-1954 www.vljnj.org

Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe) Expungement Clinic Eligibility Assessment & Action Plan Date:

Client Name: Volunteer Team (please list everyone):

1. Did client read and consent to the Limited Scope Retainer Agreement? Check here if verbal consent granted 2. Does the client have a pending criminal case? YES NO

YES

If “Yes”, ineligible for expungement at this time; refer to Public Defender or Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

3. Does the client have an out-of-state or federal conviction?

YES

PTI/CD

Dismissal

Arrest 1

Indictable crime Disorderly persons Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date: Type of sentence: Date sentence completed:

PTI/CD

Dismissal

Arrest 2

Indictable crime Disorderly persons Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date: Type of sentence: Date sentence completed: Indictable crime

PTI/CD

Dismissal

PTI/CD

Dismissal

Arrest 3

Arrest 4

Disorderly persons

Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date: Type of sentence: Date sentence completed: Indictable crime Disorderly persons Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date:

Arrest 5

Arrest 6

Type of sentence: Date sentence completed: Indictable crime Disorderly persons Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date: Type of sentence: Date sentence completed: Indictable crime Disorderly persons Offense name and statute (final): Date of arrest/charge: Disposition: Disposition date: Type of sentence: Date sentence completed:

PTI/CD

Dismissal

PTI/CD

Dismissal

ADVICE & NEXT STEPS

Eligible for expungement of entire record – proceed to case placement Eligible for expungement of partial record – proceed to case placement Likely Eligible: Were you able to file petition through ecourts? YES NO If “YES”, please send VLJ a copy of the petition. If “NO”, please check all that apply: Client needs more documents If so, what? Client needs another clinic appointment (ran out of time) Client needs to review petition prior to filing Client needs an attorney for full representation If so, why (e.g., complicated case)? Other, please explain:

Client ineligible for expungement. Please check all that apply: Barred conviction Federal conviction Out-of-state conviction Pending charge Untimely: Clean Slate 10 year waiting period has not yet elapsed. Anticipated eligibility date: Traditional period had not elapsed. Anticipated eligibility date: Other, please explain:

WRAP UP Would you like to continue to assist this client? Time spent on case:

YES

Volunteer Lawyers for Justice P.O. Box 32040, Newark, NJ 07102 Phone (973) 645-1955 Fax: (973) 645-1954 www.vljnj.org

Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe) Expungement E-Filing Clinic - Attorney Report Form Client Name: Volunteer Team (please list everyone):

Date:

CLIENT ELIGIBILITY Does the client have a pending criminal case?

YES

If “Yes”, ineligible for expungement at this time; refer to Public Defender or Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

Does the client have an out-of-state or federal conviction?

YES

If “Yes”, client advised seeking an expungement under NJ's expungement statute does not/cannot clear an out-of-state record.

Client eligible: Client eligible for expungement of entire record – proceed to case placement Client eligible for expungement of partial record – proceed to case placement Client ineligible

ACTION TAKEN IN APPOINTMENT Were you able to file petition through ecourts? YES NO If “YES”, please send VLJ a copy of the petition. If “NO”, please check all that apply: Client needs more documents If so, what? Client needs another clinic appointment (ran out of time) Client needs to review petition prior to filing Client needs an attorney for full representation If so, why (e.g., complicated case)? Other, please explain:

WRAP UP • Would you like to continue to assist this client? YES NO • Time spent on case: • If applicable, provide further notes on appointment with client, including advice given, action taken, issues/questions that arose, additional information discovered, etc.

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CHAPTER 6 Volunteering with VLJ

VOLUNTEERING WITH VLJ Volunteer Lawyers for Justice Website: www.vljnj.org

New volunteers should register online at http://vljnj.org. Go to the “Volunteer” tab of the website and complete a Volunteer Form. As a registered volunteer, you will begin receiving our direct referral case list and will be contacted by VLJ staff about your volunteer interests.

Thank you for your support of VLJ and the clients we serve!

ReLeSe Staff Contact Information Main Number: (973) 645-1955 Karen Robinson, Esq. Managing Attorney krobinson@vljnj.org (973) 645-1951 ext. 111 Katiana Guerrier Legal Assistant kguerrier@vljnj.org (973) 645 1951 ext. 103

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