A criminal conviction may adversely affect your legal rights, economic opportunities and social situation for the rest of your life. The lawyers at Casha and Casha, LLC know that an indiscretion shouldn’t follow you forever if it can be helped.

Many people discover the problems a criminal or juvenile record creates when they are applying for a job, license, or entrance to college or trade school. If you have been convicted of a crime in New Jersey, it is important that you consult a lawyer to determine whether your criminal records can be expunged. Because the law often imposes time limitations on pursuing legal rights and remedies, it is important to determine as soon as possible whether expungement is available. For your own or your loved one’s sake you should address the issue of expungement before past history will be reviewed or questioned. It may be too late once an important opportunity or right is lost.

Given your life style you may think that you will never be effected but the following is just an abbreviated list of areas where a criminal record will affect your life:

• Voting
• Jury duty
• Child custody rights
• Holding public office
• Credibility as a witness in court
• Firearms - Acquisition and Possession
• Bank Loans
• Employment
• College Applications
• Professional Licenses
• Social stigma
• Military Service
• Place of Residence
• Clubs and civic organizations

Once all of your criminal and/or juvenile records are expunged you may legally say that you have never been arrested or convicted of a crime. Additionally, if anyone does a background check on you, courts and law enforcement agencies will indicate, "no criminal record exists". An expungement is a legal way to clear your record. Your records do not disappear but they do go away. All the expunged records are sent to a special facility for expunged records. The records cannot be accessed for general law enforcement or civil use. However, there are certain exceptional situations under which the expunged records can be searched, retrieved, and used, but this is rare and normally requires a court order or statutory authorization.

Expungement eligibility is a highly technical area and addressed by lawyers with the experience possessed by those at Casha and Casha. Generally speaking, a person may have a criminal offense expunged if ten (10) years have passed since the completion of one's sentence. Disorderly persons offenses and petty disorderly persons offenses may be expunged after five (5) years. An arrest not resulting in a conviction may generally be expunged without delay. The law of expungement and eligibility is so complicated and contains so many exceptions, that only an experienced lawyer should do the analysis of who is eligibility. The process normally takes about 3 months, but may take longer depending on the legal issues involved or the particular court and if not done properly may affect your ability to ever get the records expunged.

Expunging a record will be life altering.

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