New Jersey Criminal Records

Criminal records in New Jersey are the official records that state and local courts, law enforcement agencies, and detention centers keep on individuals who have been guilty of a crime. In New Jersey, criminal records include information about convictions, arrests, and time spent by a subject in one of the state's four prisons.

New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (OPRA) asserts that criminal records must be open to the public. Law enforcement, detention centers, and courts in New Jersey are the ones who create the state's public criminal records. However, it is the job of the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) to keep records of and share this information.

New Jersey Criminal Record has the following information:

• Subject's personal information (name, gender, race, and date of birth)
• Any aliases
• Driver license number
• Fingerprints
• Mugshot
• Current and previous addresses
• Types of offense
• Arrest history

The offenses in New Jersey Criminal Records differ from those in other states. There are no felony or misdemeanor records in New Jersey. Instead, it has indictable crime records and disorderly person offense records.

Furthermore, you will not find criminal driving violation records in New Jersey Criminal Records because the state does not consider traffic violation a crime or offense.

Almost all traffic violations in New Jersey fall into "quasi-criminal offenses". It means they are similar to real crimes in some ways, but not all. Although an individual who committed this offense will be penalized appropriately, the incident will only show on their Driver History Abstracts, not their criminal record.

However, if you have been guilty of a crime in New Jersey and are wondering what kind of information will be on your record, the following are the significant crimes you will find.

Indictable Crimes

Most offenses in New Jersey are categorized as indictable crime records, similar to felonies for most states, and have a punishment of more than one year in jail.

Like other states, indictable crimes in New Jersey are grouped by degrees, with first-degree crimes being the most severe and fourth-degree crimes being the least serious.

First-degree Crimes

For a first-degree crime, the prison sentence is between 10 and 20 years. This degree also comes with a 15-year default sentence. Some examples of this crime include aggravated manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated sexual assault.

Second-degree Crimes

Those who commit a second-degree crime face a term of 5 to 10 years in jail, with a 7-year presumption sentence. This degree includes aggravated arson, armed burglary, and reckless vehicular homicide.

Third-degree Crimes

Some of the crimes under this degree include aggravated criminal sexual contact, arson, and theft of a motor vehicle. If you commit these offenses, you will face a jail sentence of 3 to 5 years, with a 4-year presumption sentence.

Fourth-degree Crimes

For a fourth-degree crime, the maximum sentence is 18 months in prison, and the default sentence is nine months. The most common crimes under this degree are criminal mischief, forgery, and cyber harassment.

In New Jersey, an indictable crime record becomes part of your criminal record unless expunged. You must wait ten years before you remove your indictable crime records.

Disorderly Persons Offenses

Disorderly persons offense records in New Jersey are equivalent to misdemeanor records in most states. These crimes are less severe and carry a sentence of fewer than six months imprisonment. New Jersey divided this offense into petty disorderly persons offenses and disorderly persons offenses ("regular").

Petty Disorderly Persons Offenses

These offenses are the less severe type of criminal record in New Jersey. Those who commit a petty disorderly persons offense will face up to 30-day imprisonment and a $500 fine.

The most frequent violations under this criminal record type include:

• Trespassing
• Disorderly conduct
• Harassment

Even though New Jersey law does not consider these disorderly offenses as significant crimes, they can still result in a criminal record and a jail sentence.

Disorderly Persons Offenses ("Regular")

In New Jersey, the most severe crime under this type of offense is the disorderly persons offenses ("regular"). It has a punishment of six months in prison and a fine of $1,000.

Here are some of the most common disorderly persons offense records in New Jersey:

• Resisting arrest
• Shoplifting for less than $200
• Simple assault

A conviction for this type of offense record may or may not be qualified for future expungement. In New Jersey, before removing your criminal history, you must wait five years after being found guilty of a disorderly persons offense. You must also have no pending cases and no more than three disorderly persons offenses.

However, if an offense is not eligible for expungement, it will stay on your criminal record forever, which can have a series of impacts, such as losing your job.

It will also prevent you from applying for housing, loans, or a driver's license. If you are later guilty of another crime, the court may consider your earlier conviction and impose a heavier sentence in the new case.

Sexual Offenses

The state of New Jersey uses statutory rape laws to prosecute adults with sexual contact with a child under 16, even if the sex is voluntary. New Jersey created its statutory rape laws on the concept that children cannot give informed consent to sexual activity.

The following are the most typical examples of statutory rape in New Jersey, along with their penalties:

Aggravated Sexual Assault

Aggravated sexual assault in New Jersey is a first-degree crime. It can get you at least 15 years, up to life in prison, a fine of up to $200,000, or both. This offense includes any sexual contact between a child younger than 13 and a person of any age.

Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is a second-degree crime in the state of New Jersey. Those who commit these crimes will spend five to ten years in prison and pay a fine of $150,000 or both.

This type of offense occurs when an offender at least four years older than the victim has sexual interaction with a child younger than 13. It also involves sexual penetration between a child aged 13, 14, or 15 and an offender who is four years older than the child.

Criminal Sexual Contact

In New Jersey, criminal sexual contact includes sexual interaction between a child who is 13, 14, or 15 and an offender who is at least four years older than the child. It is a fourth-degree crime in the state, meaning you could spend up to 18 months in prison, pay up to $10,000 in fines, or both.

People convicted of certain sexual crimes in New Jersey must register as sex offenders for life, in addition to the applicable penalties and prison sentences.

If interested, you can search for sex offenders through the New Jersey sex offender registry, a consolidated database controlled by the NJSP.

Even though there are three levels of sex offenders in the state, the registry only has information about tier 3 offenders, who are most likely to do it again, and tier 2 offenders, who have a moderate risk of doing it again.

A person with a criminal record in New Jersey can petition the court to have their record expunged or sealed. The court will remove a person's criminal record if there is a dismissal of charges or the person completes their sentence and remains crime-free.

However, the expungement process in New Jersey does not clean the slate. When removed, criminal justice institutions, including courts and law enforcement, can still access these records for charging and sentencing in the event of future offenses.

Expungement Process in New Jersey

In New Jersey, the whole expungement process takes between eight and twelve months, but it could take more or less, relative to your case.

When removing a criminal record in New Jersey, the steps are:

• Obtain criminal records
• Draft, notarize, and file the expungement petition
• Serve expungement petition
• Attend court appearance (if necessary)
• Serve the order of expungement

What Crimes Are Ineligible for Expungement in New Jersey?

In New Jersey, being eligible for expungement depends on several things, including the type of crime committed. Most crimes in New Jersey that aren't eligible for expungement are:

• Murder
• Kidnapping
• Major drug crimes
• Public official crimes
• Sex crimes
• Human trafficking
• False imprisonment
• Robbery
• Child endangerment
• Arson

Inmate records in New Jersey are official documents describing inmates' incarceration and anticipated release in state and local detention institutions.

The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) is in charge of the 13 state prisons and most records of people in jail. If you are interested in looking up inmates, you can use the NJDOC Offender Search tool.

You will need their name and state identification number to find an inmate's records. You can, however, only acquire personal and administrative information since their medical records are not made public.

You can also search online the local police departments' websites or call them to conduct an inmate lookup.

Although the details in an inmate's record can vary in different states, in New Jersey, they contain the following:

• Inmate's personal information (name, date of birth, and gender)
• Any aliases
• Height and weight
• DOC ID
• Booking photo
• Sentence summary
• Placed in charge

Arrest records in New Jersey contain information about arrests made by state and municipal law enforcement officers. These official documents give information regarding the incidents that resulted in the arrests described.

In New Jersey, an arrest warrant is a formal court document allowing a law enforcement officer to detain a defendant.

Following an arrest, the arresting officer will transport the accused to their local precinct. From here, they will go through the booking process, which includes writing down the arrestee's personal information and the crime they were arrested for, taking a mugshot and fingerprints, and doing a body search.

The arresting officer will also take the person's personal belongings and check their records. Depending on the details of the arrest, the person might also have to give a DNA sample or do a health screening.

New Jersey law enforcement creates state public arrest records and makes them available to anyone interested in conducting an arrest search.

If you want a copy of someone's complete arrest history, you can file a request to the NJSP. You must submit fingerprints and complete a form to do this.

Arrest records in New Jersey include the following information:

• Arrestee's personal information (name, gender, race, and age)
• Height and weight
• The place and time of the arrest
• Criminal charges that led to the arrest
• Name of the officer in charge
• The booking facility

In New Jersey, there are restrictions on who can obtain and utilize a person's criminal record information for noncriminal justice purposes. As a result, only state government institutions, private investigators, employers, and people making personal records can get criminal records.

Criminal records are available from courts, jails, and state and local law enforcement agencies in New Jersey. If you are interested in acquiring criminal records, the most straightforward way to conduct a criminal record check is to go to the New Jersey Criminal Records search.

In this state, you can acquire a criminal record search using either your fingerprints or your name. Name-based search is available on the state's web-based platform. A fingerprint-based search is also available if you want to use fingerprints in searching criminal records.

Fingerprint-based search gives the most detailed reports. In this type of criminal records search, the state has several ways of obtaining fingerprints, including virtual meetings. Aside from your fingerprints, you must also fill out a request and give a mailing address to get the criminal report.