On March 24, 2005, Acting Governor Richard Codey signed P.L. 2005, c.55 amending N.J.S.A. 30:4-80.1, et seq. so that liens from State or County psychiatric hospitals, which were filed prior to March 24, 2005, are "hereby extinguished and shall have no legal effect".

While the legal effect of the liens has been extinguished since March 24, 2005, you must request that the hospital take steps to do this. If you request it, the hospital will file a legal instrument to "Discharge" (remove/cancel) the effected institutional liens from County or State Superior Court Clerk records. If you desire to have a lien removed, you can download the Request To Discharge Lien form by clicking on the format you want to use:  Word (.doc) or Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf).  Please fill out the form, and send it to the state or county hospital. State and county hospital contacts are provided below: