Special Litigation Unit

The Special Litigation Unit (SLU) represents indigent individuals subject to Megan’s Law in various post-conviction proceedings, including tier classification hearings and motions to terminate an offender’s registration obligations. Since 1996 the unit has successfully mitigated the harmful effects of community notification for thousands of individuals statewide and successfully removed countless others from the registry altogether. The SLU has three regional offices that provide representation to clients at Megan’s Law tier classification hearings. These hearings, held in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties, give clients the chance to challenge a prosecutor’s decision about their risk (tier) level and the scope of community notification to which they may be subject. Each regional office also provides representation to clients seeking to terminate their Megan’s Law and Parole Supervision for Life obligations. Deputy Public Defender Stephanie Lutz is the manager of the SLU’s Megan’s Law practice. She and her staff in the three regional offices, noted below, are available to answer any questions from current and potential clients.

In recent years, the SLU’s role in the agency has expanded to include litigating other issues that impact the legal rights of the agency’s clients on a statewide or systemic basis, including those related to the rights of incarcerated people, the rights of juveniles, parole, expungements, and many other issues that affect people within the criminal justice system. The unit’s expanded role, including its civil rights work, is managed by Deputy Public Defender Michael Noveck.

Each regional SLU office has two attorneys on staff and covers several counties:

Newark (973-877-1622) (Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, and Sussex Counties); Trenton (609-292-9350) (Burlington, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Union, and Warren Counties) and Gibbsboro (856-346-8060) (Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties)

Did you get an expungement from the court, but are still waiting for your criminal record to be cleared?
Read below to learn more about a lawsuit that may help you.

In October 2023, the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender’s Special Litigation Unit filed a class action lawsuit against the New Jersey State Police on behalf of all people who have an expungement order that has not yet been processed. The lawsuit asks the court to order the New Jersey State Police to process expungement orders in a timely manner.

On March 13, 2025, the OPD announced that it had agreed to terms of a settlement to resolve the lawsuit. The OPD’s March 12, 2025 status report to the court, which is linked below, describes the terms of the settlement and contains the Term Sheet that memorializes the parties' agreement. Under the agreement, all expungement orders will be processed by the NJSP, and expunged records will be removed from NJSP background checks, within 120 days of receipt, with the exception of orders for which we have agreed that the NJSP may request further information before processing. The NJSP will be in compliance with the 120-day deadline by June 1. The NJSP has also agreed to undertake best efforts to process all expungement orders within 90 days.

There is also a new expungement portal, available at https://expungement.njsp.gov/, where anyone can register for an account and track the status of the processing of their expungement orders. Instructions for using the portal are available at https://expungement.njsp.gov/EXPG_Portal/RegisterInstructions.aspx When you begin tracking your expungement order, you will also receive email updates whenever the status of the order changes.

The OPD believes that this resolution of the case will greatly benefit successful expungement petitioners. We will continue to monitor compliance with the terms of the settlement.

For up-to-date information on the case, please regularly visit this website, or send an email to expungementlawsuit@opd.nj.gov to be added to our email distribution list. Please include your name; telephone number; email address; and the date and county of your expungement order.

Case Documents (updated regularly):

Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Office of the Public Defender

Special Litigation Unit

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