New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed into law a measure requiring the State Police to maintain an online portal that allows individuals to track the processing status of their expungement orders.
New Jersey Capitol Building.
The bill also mandates annual public reports detailing the volume and timeliness of expungement processing.
This action comes in the wake of a class-action lawsuit filed by the Office of the Public Defender last year, which exposed a backlog of nearly 50,000 court-granted expungements that had not yet been processed by the State Bureau of Identification. That backlog had left many New Jerseyans vulnerable to employment and housing barriers, despite having their records legally expunged.
“Individuals seeking a second chance through expungement deserve a clear and transparent process,” said Governor Murphy in a press release. “This bill codifies our Administration’s commitment to ensuring justice is accessible and efficient for all. With a dedicated online tracking system, petitioners can now stay informed about the status of their expungement.”
The measure modifies an earlier version of the bill that would have required the State Police to manually review more than a million background checks annually for unprocessed expungement orders—an effort Murphy warned would have further delayed processing times. Instead, the new law builds on improvements made through a legal settlement reached between the State Police, Attorney General’s Office, and Public Defender earlier this year.
“For someone waiting for an order clearing their criminal record to be processed, transparency is critical,” said Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. “This bill codifies a requirement to maintain the public portal recently set up by the New Jersey State Police and to issue periodic reports on the status of the processing queue, which will help ensure that petitioners are informed of where things stand in the process.”
Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti praised the new requirements, saying, “The Office of the Public Defender remains steadfast in its commitment to helping individuals overcome the barriers of their past records. We support any measure that enables people to move beyond their mistakes and build brighter futures for themselves and their families.”
The new law ensures that progress made through the settlement will be sustained in statute, providing long-term accountability and transparency in New Jersey’s expungement system.
