Gov. Chris Christie has signed a package of bills that changes and modernizes the state’s expungement system in an effort to help minor criminal offenders reclaim their lives.
“Having a criminal record often impedes the ability to get a job, purchase a home or vehicle, or simply have and take care of a family,” Christie said. “We want to give those overcoming incarceration or the disease of addiction, young offenders, and all who have earned and deserve it, a second chance at life.”
According to a press release from the governor’s office, the reform legislation signed into law by Christie includes:
• Senate Bill 3306: Strengthens the original “Ban the Box” legislation by further preventing employers from making any oral, written or online inquiries about a candidate’s criminal record, and from using an online application that requires disclosure of an applicant’s criminal record, including an expungement criminal record.
• Senate Bill 3307: Revises procedures for expunging criminal and other records and information, including shortening certain waiting periods for expungement eligibility and increasing the number of convictions that may be expunged.
• Senate Bill 3308: Allows young adults to expunge their juvenile records two years sooner than current law permits, decreasing the waiting period from five to three years to expunge an entire juvenile record, and maintaining all other requirements and provisions.
“Giving people second chances has been a guiding principle of my administration and a driving force behind many of my policies and initiatives, especially in regard to prisoner re-entry and substance use disorder,” Christie said.
“The revisions we are implementing today will provide people with an even greater opportunity to become employed and become productive members of society once again after they have paid their debt to society,” the governor said.
