NJ's Ready To Toss Your Traffic Ticket, Wipe Your Record Clean

New Jersey is ready to toss 800,000 tickets and other violations, and wipe your record clean.

The state will hold a series of hearings this month to determine whether they're going to toss out your parking ticket or a minor traffic violation, among other offenses, according to an order issued by the state Supreme Court.

The ticket dump stems from a report released by a state Supreme Court committee in July that recommended dismissing more than 787,000 old complaints.

The report said there are hundreds of thousands of open, unresolved cases that involve minor municipal offenses – all of which happened prior to 2003 – that the court would like to dismiss, according to the order.

They include parking violations and motor vehicle offenses such as speeding, running a red light and improper passing, according to the order. They also include local ordinance violations and related matters.

Of these cases, 355,619 involve parking tickets; 348,631 involve moving violations.

The dismissed tickets will not include:

• Indictable charges
• Disorderly persons offenses
• Driving without a license
• Driving while intoxicated
• Driving while license is suspended or revoked
• Reckless driving
• Speeding in excess of 35 mph over the posted speed limit
• Passing a stopped school bus
• Leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury or property damage

"Those old outstanding complaints and open warrants in minor matters raise questions of fairness, the appropriate use of limited public resources," according to the report that was signed by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

The panel for the upcoming hearings will listen to testimony on why those older minor municipal court complaints should not be dismissed. Individual cases will not be discussed, according to a news release from the New Jersey court system.

The morning sessions will be open to members of the public and public interest groups. The afternoon sessions will be open to comments from local representatives, such as mayors and municipal attorneys and prosecutors, according to the release.

Those interested in speaking at a session must submit a request and written comments.

The hearings before Assignment Judges Ronald Bookbinder of the Burlington Vicinage; Ernest

Caposela of the Passaic Vicinage; and Yolanda Ciccone of the Somerset/Hunterdon/Warren Vicinage are scheduled for 10 a.m. for the following dates and locations:

• Monday, Oct. 22 at the Essex County Veterans Courthouse, 50 W. Market St., Courtroom 1114 – 11th floor, Newark
• Tuesday, Oct. 23 at the Somerset County Courthouse, 20 N. Bridge St., Courtroom 301, Somerville
• Wednesday, Oct. 24 at the Burlington County Olde Courthouse, 120 High St., Courtroom 1, Mount Holly.

Shutterstock photo, MVC photo