False Imprisonment Lawyer in New Brunswick, NJ

Reviewed by William A. Proetta, Esq. · Updated October 2026

False imprisonment under N.J.S.A. 2C:13-3 is a disorderly persons offense: knowingly and unlawfully restraining someone so as to interfere substantially with their liberty. The maximum is 6 months in county jail and a $1,000 fine, and there is no higher grade, not even when the person held is a child.

The town where the restraint allegedly took place hears it. In Edison that means the court at 100 Municipal Boulevard; in Woodbridge, 1 Main Street; in New Brunswick, 25 Kirkpatrick Street. East Brunswick, Old Bridge and the other Middlesex towns have their own courts. There is no grand jury and no jury trial; a municipal judge decides. From our Edison office I have handled cases in these courtrooms through more than 15 years of trial work, and this low-grade charge deserves more attention than its label suggests, for one reason: if the person held was a minor and the accused is not the child’s parent, a conviction requires Megan’s Law registration.

The Elements in Plain Terms

The prosecutor must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt.

1. A restraint. The accused physically or practically confined the other person: locking a door, holding them in place, blocking the only way out, refusing to let them out of a car.
2. Unlawfulness. The restraint had no legal justification. A parent setting a curfew for a young child, or a person lawfully preventing an assault, is not acting unlawfully.
3. A substantial interference with liberty, done knowingly. The confinement has to be more than trivial, and the accused must have been aware of what they were doing. Brushing past someone in a narrow hallway, or a few seconds of standing in a doorway during an argument, is not substantial.

No injury, danger, movement, weapon or special purpose is required, which separates it from the two heavier Chapter 13 charges. When the restraint creates a risk of serious bodily injury, the charge becomes third-degree criminal restraint. When there is substantial movement or a substantial period of confinement for a listed purpose, it becomes kidnapping.

The family defense. A relative or legal guardian who held a child under 18 for no reason other than taking charge of that child has an affirmative defense. A grandparent keeping a grandchild overnight against a parent’s wishes may fit; a neighbor does not.

One Grade, Very Different Consequences

The grade never changes, but the fallout depends on who the other person was.

Most people assume a disorderly persons offense can never carry registration. False imprisonment is the exception: the registration statute lists it by name when the victim is a minor and the offender is not the parent. A coach, a family friend or a stepparent who has not adopted can each fall into that category.

Penalties and Collateral Effects

• Not a crime. Under N.J.S.A. 2C:1-4(b), a disorderly persons conviction is not a crime under the New Jersey Constitution and carries no civil disability based on conviction of a crime. Our page on disorderly persons offenses explains how the grades differ.
• Expungement. Outside the minor-and-non-parent situation, N.J.S.A. 2C:52-3 allows a petition five years out, or three with compelling circumstances.
• Domestic violence. False imprisonment is a predicate act, so the person can seek a restraining order on the same facts. A conviction for a disorderly persons offense involving domestic violence also makes any later firearm possession a third-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-7(b)(2). Federal firearms law is a separate question that turns on the elements and the plea record.
• Time limit. The State must file within one year of the incident.
• Civil exposure. False imprisonment is also a civil claim. A guilty plea can be offered against the defendant in a lawsuit unless the municipal judge orders a civil reservation. Maida v. Kuskin, 221 N.J. 112 (2015), requires that request to be made in open court, together with the plea itself.
• Immigration. How this offense is treated depends on the facts admitted and the person’s status. Anyone who is not a citizen should get an immigration lawyer’s opinion before pleading.

How False Imprisonment Cases Run in Middlesex County Courts

Direct filings. Some cases start in municipal court. Police respond to a roommate dispute in a New Brunswick rental, or a family argument in a Woodbridge townhouse, and issue a summons for false imprisonment, often alongside simple assault or harassment. A private citizen can also file a complaint at the court window, which a judge or authorized administrator reviews for probable cause. When both people say the other held or grabbed them, cross-complaints follow, and the two cases are usually heard together.

Remands from Superior Court. Just as often, false imprisonment arrives as the reduced version of a heavier charge. When the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office screens a criminal restraint or kidnapping complaint and decides the indictable count cannot be proved, it can send a disorderly persons charge back to the municipal court where the case began. If a downgrade is negotiated while the indictable count is still pending in municipal court, the county prosecutor’s consent must be noted on the record.

Arrest and release. A false imprisonment charge alone is usually a summons. If it involves domestic violence and was charged on a complaint-warrant, it can support a detention motion, and the accused may spend a night or two in the county jail in North Brunswick before a first appearance. Release conditions then bar contact; our page on no-contact orders explains what those conditions require.

The Family Part. In a domestic case, the restraining order runs on its own track in the Family Part (120 New Street in New Brunswick), apart from the municipal case. Testimony in either can surface in the other.

For the local courts, see our Edison criminal defense page and New Brunswick criminal defense page.

Diversion: Conditional Dismissal and PTI

For a first offender charged with false imprisonment of an unrelated adult, conditional dismissal under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-13.1 is a realistic target: a year of probation monitoring, then dismissal, with the judge weighing whether the offense was “of an assaultive or violent nature.” It is unavailable when the case involves domestic violence or a minor. Pretrial Intervention is generally not available for disorderly persons offenses, but R. 3:28-1(c)(2) lets a person charged with one involving domestic violence apply; a guilty plea is required if the offense was committed while a restraining order was in place.

Defenses to a False Imprisonment Charge

• No substantial interference. A brief obstruction, a closed but unlocked door, or a person who chose to stay and keep arguing is not a substantial restraint.
• A way out existed. Other exits, an available phone and the person’s own movements on video can show they were free to go.
• Lawful justification. Holding someone back from attacking another person or from driving impaired can be justified force.
• Knowledge. The accused must have known they were restraining the person, not simply been in the way.
• The age element. Where registration is at stake, the child’s age and the accused’s parental status must be proved.

Talk to a Middlesex County False Imprisonment Lawyer

Bring your summons and any release order, write down a timeline while it is fresh, and stay away from the complaining witness. Call us in Edison at (732) 659-9600, any hour, or contact us online. Other charges in this group are listed on our Middlesex assault and threats page.