Provides expungement process for certain defendants who are victims of abuse if conviction is substantially related to abuse.

New record relief for abuse survivors

This New Jersey law creates a path for abuse survivors to expunge convictions, findings of guilt, and juvenile delinquency records. You must show that domestic violence or substantial physical, sexual, or psychological abuse more likely than not contributed to your offense. Murder and crimes listed in N.J.S.2C:7-2(b) are excluded. You cannot have previously filed under this new process. Filing follows the latest applicable milestone: your most recent conviction, payment of court-ordered assessments, completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration. You file in Superior Court where you live or where a conviction occurred; the petition can include earlier dispositions from elsewhere. Courts consider all relevant circumstances, including court, medical, social-service, and corrections records, protective orders, and witness or professional statements. Courts can deny relief based on the interest of justice, your role as the primary aggressor, or other statutory grounds. Approved relief has the same legal effect as other expungements. The law takes effect on the first day of the tenth month after enactment of P.L.2025, c.328. Court administrators and State Police can prepare implementation beforehand.