The fifteen-year requirement is the first eligibility question. It is also one of the easiest parts of the statute to calculate incorrectly.
The Statutory Language
N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4(c) requires clear and convincing proof that the person has not committed a crime for fifteen years since the last conviction or release from incarceration, whichever is later.
That language is broader than the Megan’s Law termination provision. For CSL or PSL, the clock is not limited to the conviction that originally produced lifetime supervision.
Later Convictions Matter
A later criminal conviction can move the starting date. The statute uses the phrase “last conviction,” so the analysis requires a complete criminal history rather than a review limited to the original sex offense.
Later Incarceration Can Matter Too
The alternative date is the last release from incarceration. That can become important even when the later custody resulted from revocation of PSL rather than a new criminal conviction.
In the unpublished 2025 decision State v. R.J.N., the Appellate Division held that a defendant returned to prison after PSL revocation could not satisfy the fifteen-year requirement until fifteen years after the later release from custody.
A Supervision Violation Is Not Automatically a Crime
The same R.J.N. decision rejected the idea that an administrative finding of a PSL violation automatically constitutes a new crime. A parole-board violation proceeding is different from a criminal prosecution under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4(d).
That distinction matters. The statute says the person must remain free of a crime for fifteen years. A violation that is handled administratively is not, by itself, a criminal conviction.
“Crime” Has a Specific Meaning
New Jersey defines a crime as an offense for which imprisonment in excess of six months is authorized. Disorderly persons and petty disorderly persons offenses are not “crimes” under that definition.
That does not make lesser conduct irrelevant. Even conduct that does not independently defeat the fifteen-year crime-free prong may still be considered under the separate public-safety analysis.
Calculate Before Filing
The safe calculation uses the complete conviction history, every period of incarceration, and the supervision record. Filing before the statutory period has run creates an eligibility problem that evidence about rehabilitation cannot cure.