If you get arrested, you might be afraid that family, friends, employers, or even the press might find out about it. The question of whether arrest records are public information is part of this question, but additional considerations about how and when people can find a record of your arrest are important to think about, too.
In New Jersey, arrest records are public information, meaning they can usually be accessed without special permissions or requests, although it is often difficult to procure records that have no conviction entered yet. People also still need to know where to look to find a record of an arrest, and arrests without convictions are not usually sought out. However, someone specifically looking for a record – such as a motivated journalist – will often be able to find the record.
For help with criminal charges, call the New Jersey criminal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of John J. Zarych today at (609) 616-4956.
Is an Arrest Record Accessible to the Public in New Jersey?
Arrest records are public records, as are most court filings and records of conviction. However, the way to access these is not usually apparent to everyone, and people who might want to find your arrest record might not be looking in the right place or searching in the right way to find it.
Generally, court records are public records in New Jersey. These will show every step of the criminal case as it is carried out, including warrants, arrests, arraignments, dropped charges, dismissed charges, and convictions. If you go to court, you can see someone on trial; their arrest is public information. If someone knows or suspects that you have been arrested, they will be able to confirm this one way or another.
There is no need to be connected to the case or a party to it to be able to look up public records. They are considered public information, as are most criminal cases – and most matters before the court, generally. However, unless someone specifically goes searching for your arrest on a records search, they are unlikely to just stumble across it.
Expunging Arrest Records in New Jersey
If your case is over and your charges were dropped or dismissed, our New Jersey criminal defense lawyers can help get the record expunged. Dropped or dismissed cases should have the arrest record expunged automatically in most cases, but our lawyers can take care of any lingering records.
Additionally, if you are facing charges that you do not want people to find out about or see on a background check, calling a lawyer and fighting the case might be your best way to avoid having a conviction on your record. Our attorneys might also be able to help you enter into alternative sentencing or “pretrial diversion” programs that allow you to plead guilty, have the guilty plea held, participate in programs, and then have the case removed from your record – all without actually entering a guilty verdict or plea on your record.
Who Can See Arrest and Conviction Records on a Background Check in New Jersey?
Generally speaking, anyone can run a background check if they are willing to pay for it and have access to the systems needed. However, usually only employers and similar parties have good grounds to do so legally. If your girlfriend’s dad wants to have an old police buddy run a background check on you, that might be inappropriate but still possible – but know that background checks only show results based on what the search was looking for in the first place.
Most background checks look only for convictions. This means that if you have only been arrested, it might not show up at all on the background check. More detailed checks could include court records checks, which would include arrests and other stages of cases in progress as well. However, when most people talk about “background checks,” they mean ones looking for finalized convictions only. Additionally, finding access to court records beyond convictions is often difficult.
Additionally, many background checks only look for convictions specifically for “crimes.” New Jersey has four types of charges you could go to criminal court for: ordinance violations, petty disorderly persons offenses, disorderly persons offenses, and indictable crimes. Only the last one – indictable crimes or indictable offenses – are truly considered “crimes” under New Jersey law. Everything else is considered an “offense” punishable by a max of 6 months or 30 days in jail, meaning that you do not even get a right to a trial by jury in those cases. Because these three are less serious, many people do not even look for these issues – especially ordinance violations and petty disorderly persons offenses – when running background checks.
What Arrest Records Cannot Be Searched in New Jersey?
Some records are considered confidential or sealed and might not be available for search.
Most commonly, this applies to juvenile records. These records are not generally available to the public, as they are not considered “criminal” records for underage defendants, and the child’s best interests and privacy are always taken into account. As such, you might never be able to find records for a minor, especially if they were sealed or closed upon the juvenile turning 18.
Additionally, some cases involving underage victims will be sealed and kept confidential, at least until there is a conviction on record. This is done to protect the victims.
There might be other cases that cannot be searched as well, depending on the specific circumstances and needs of the parties in the case, as well as the judge’s determinations about whether privacy is necessary to ensure fair judgment and safety for everyone involved.
Lastly, you cannot usually search expunged records. The entire point of expunging records is so that the records of arrest or conviction do not show up anymore in a way that could bias employers and other parties against you. Courts and law enforcement might still be able to get access to sealed/expunged records, but they will usually not show up on background checks. Additionally, you usually do not have to answer yes to questions asking if you were previously convicted on employment questionnaires and the like after a successful expungement.
Call Our New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyers Today
For help with an arrest, call (609) 616-4956 for a free case assessment with the Law Offices of John J. Zarych’s Atlantic City criminal defense lawyers.
