Expungement Attorney in New Brunswick, Middlesex County

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

Most New Jersey arrests and convictions can be expunged under chapter 52 of the Criminal Code once the right amount of time has passed. A dismissed charge or an acquittal can be cleared immediately; a Pretrial Intervention or conditional discharge dismissal after six months; a municipal ordinance violation after two years; a disorderly persons offense after five years, or three with compelling circumstances; and an indictable conviction after five years, or four with compelling circumstances. The clock runs from the latest of the conviction, final payment of fines, the end of probation or parole, or release from custody. A short list of serious crimes can never be expunged, and motor vehicle offenses such as DWI fall outside the law entirely under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-28.

Conviction petitions are decided by the Superior Court, not the municipal court. They are filed online through the eCourts Expungement System in the county where you live or where a conviction was entered, at no charge under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-29, and the county prosecutor reviews each one. For a Middlesex record, that means a judge in New Brunswick and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. William Proetta Criminal Law files expungements from our Edison office, and I bring more than 15 years of criminal trial experience to reading a record the way the prosecutor will.

Who Qualifies, and How Long Is the Wait?

Count limits apply too. With no crime on the record, up to five disorderly persons offenses can be cleared; with one crime, that crime plus up to three lesser offenses; and multiple crimes only when they share one judgment or were closely related. A prior conviction expungement generally bars another, except under Clean Slate. Our statewide New Jersey expungement guide explains each of these rules in more depth.

Each type of record has its own page:

• Expunging an indictable conviction: waiting periods, count rules, barred crimes, drug distribution and Clean Slate.
• Expunging a disorderly persons offense: municipal court convictions, the five-offense limit and ordinance violations.
• Expunging an arrest or dismissed charge: dismissals, acquittals, PTI and conditional discharge, and what the order does.

What Can Never Be Expunged?

N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(b) bars criminal homicide (except death by auto and strict liability vehicular homicide), kidnapping, luring, human trafficking, sexual assault, robbery, arson, perjury, false swearing, terrorism, child sexual abuse material offenses, crimes by public officials that touched their office, and attempts or conspiracies to commit them. Drug distribution is barred too, except small marijuana or hashish amounts and 3rd- or 4th-degree cases where the court finds compelling circumstances. A single one of these convictions also rules out Clean Slate.

How an Expungement Moves Through Middlesex County

1. Gather the record. Superior Court case information comes from the Middlesex Criminal Records Room (732-645-4300, ext. 88155); municipal convictions from Edison, Woodbridge, Old Bridge or any other town carry S- or W- complaint numbers obtained from that municipal court; and juvenile matters come from the Family Part at 120 New Street.
2. File in eCourts. The petition goes in electronically. There is no fee and no paper mailing to agencies.
3. Electronic service. Filing notifies the State Police, the Attorney General, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the prosecutor of any other county where you were convicted.
4. Prosecutor review. The prosecutor has 60 days to state any objection, such as an unmet waiting period, a barred offense or the claim that the need for the records outweighs your interest.
5. Reply. We have 30 days to answer an objection.
6. Decision. A judge of the Middlesex County Superior Court rules. Without an objection, the order may be signed without a hearing.
7. Distribution. The order goes out through the system; agencies pull the records and answer inquiries with “no record information.” Under P.L.2025, c.38, the State Police must offer a free online portal to check processing.

No official source sets a total timeline beyond the 60- and 30-day windows. A Middlesex resident with an old conviction from another county may file here, and a former Rutgers–New Brunswick student who moved away may file in Middlesex or at home.

Clean Slate, Survivors and Other Special Routes

Clean Slate. After ten years, a person who fits no other section, even one with a past expungement, may petition under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.3 to clear every expungeable conviction. The Judiciary’s expungement page still presents Clean Slate as a petition filed in eCourts and does not describe the automated process called for by 2C:52-5.4 as running, so we file these by petition.

Abuse survivors. Starting November 1, 2026, N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.5 (P.L.2025, c.329) lets a person whose domestic violence or other substantial abuse contributed to an offense seek expungement once the sentence is complete, with exclusions for murder and registrable sex offenses.

Marijuana. Cases built solely on marijuana or hashish possession and related offenses were expunged by operation of law in 2021 under 2C:52-6.1.

Recovery Court. The Superior Court may expunge all prior records of a special probation graduate under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14(m), with no fee; the Judiciary says only those who graduated before April 18, 2016 need to apply.

Juvenile records. A young person’s entire juvenile record can be expunged three years after final discharge if the other conditions of 2C:52-4.1(b) are met, and a single adjudication follows the adult rule for its grade. For an open case, start with our Middlesex juvenile defense page.

How We Handle Middlesex Expungements

We start by pulling the complete record from every court, because a forgotten conviction in another town or county can change the whole analysis. Then we fix the start date from payment and probation records, choose the statute and filing order that preserve every future option, and draft the petition to answer the objections the prosecutor is likely to raise. Clients in New Brunswick, Piscataway and across the county can also see our New Brunswick criminal defense page for active cases.

Talk to a Middlesex County Expungement Attorney

List every court where you were ever charged and gather any final dispositions you have. Call our Edison office at (732) 659-9600, day or night, or contact us for a free review of whether your record qualifies now.