A charge can be dismissed and still remain visible as a court record. Expungement is the step that removes an eligible case from ordinary public access.
Dismissal Is Not the Same as Expungement
The New Jersey Judiciary draws the distinction directly: when a case is dismissed, the charge is dropped, but a public record can remain. When the case is expunged, it is removed from the Judiciary’s public databases and cannot be disclosed by court staff as an ordinary public record.
Many Dismissals Should Be Expunged at Disposition
N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6 directs the court to order expungement when a person is acquitted, a charge is dismissed, or the person is discharged without a conviction or finding of guilt. Municipal courts follow procedures established by the Administrative Director of the Courts.
If that did not happen, the person may generally file for the expungement later without a waiting period.
There Is an Important Plea-Bargain Exception
Automatic dismissal-based expungement is not available when the dismissal resulted from a plea agreement involving conviction on other charges. That bar ends once the related conviction is itself expunged.
PTI, Conditional Discharge, and Conditional Dismissal
When charges are dismissed after Pretrial Intervention, conditional discharge, or conditional dismissal, the ordinary rule is a six-month waiting period after the order of dismissal before expungement under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6.
That six-month rule is specific to these diversionary dismissals. It should not be imported into an ordinary dismissal or acquittal.
Veterans and Mental Health Diversion
Veterans Diversion and the Mental Health Diversion Program have more immediate expungement provisions. The statute permits relief at the time of dismissal in the circumstances it describes, or an application afterward if the expungement was not granted then.
Arrests That End Without Conviction
A no-conviction expungement does not count against a later expungement application. That matters because a person can clear a dismissed arrest now and still pursue a separate conviction expungement when the conviction becomes eligible.