New Jersey
New Jersey Court Records: How to Search eCourts for Free, the Paid EAP Tier, and Clean Slate Status
New Jersey's court records system runs on two very different price tags. The state's free public search, called Find a Case, actually covers more ground than most people expect, civil, criminal, judgment liens, and tax court records among it. Sitting alongside it is a second, paid tier built for bulk subscribers, the Electronic Access Program, priced by the minute rather than by the search.
Knowing which of the two you actually need before starting avoids an unnecessary bill.
Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
This guide is part of a broader look at court records by state; for the mechanics of federal versus state versus county searches generally, see how to look up court records and are court records public.
The Free Layer: eCourts Find a Case
New Jersey's Find a Case page on njcourts.gov is a genuinely broad free search, not a single search box. It lists several distinct databases: civil and foreclosure cases, searchable by party name or docket number; criminal cases, searchable by name or county; criminal judgments, searchable by defendant name, SBI number, complaint number, or indictment number; judgment liens, searchable by party name, judgment number, or docket number; tax court cases; and municipal court cases, reached through the separate NJMCDirect tool. The page also links to court opinions and attorney or judicial-discipline search tools. Anyone assuming New Jersey's free search is limited to one basic criminal-name lookup, similar to a PROMIS/Gavel Public Access box alone, is undercounting what is actually available for free.
The Paid Tier: Electronic Access Program (EAP)
New Jersey's second tier is built for a different kind of user entirely. The Electronic Access Program, run through the Superior Court Clerk's Office, is a subscription service priced at $4 per minute of use, and it requires the subscriber to maintain a minimum balance of $500.00 in a JACS account before using it. The state's own description of the program is explicit about what it does not include: "Case information excludes actual text or images of filed documents." EAP is a case-processing index, listing things like case type and which documents were filed, not a document repository. New Jersey's free public-access portals remain the right tool for an individual case search; EAP exists for high-volume subscribers who need ongoing index access rather than document content.
What's Public Under Court Rule 1:38
New Jersey Court Rule 1:38 sets the state's general presumption that "court records and administrative records" maintained by the Judiciary are open for public inspection and copying, subject to a defined set of exclusions set out in Rule 1:38-3. New Jersey courts have also described these exceptions as meant to be construed narrowly, meaning the presumption of openness, not the exception, is the rule's default position. This page attempted to open the underlying Directive #03-11 PDF and the rule text directly and could not extract readable text from either, so it does not enumerate the specific excluded categories here. Readers who need the rule's exact current list of excluded record types should consult Rule 1:38-3 or Directive #03-11 directly on njcourts.gov.
Expungement and Clean Slate's Current Status
New Jersey's record-relief process is called expungement. Alongside the state's long-standing petition-based expungement law, New Jersey enacted a Clean Slate provision in 2019, N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.3, intended to eventually allow eligible records to be expunged automatically, without a person filing a petition.
As of this writing, the fully automatic Clean Slate pipeline does not appear to be operating yet. The New Jersey Judiciary's own self-help page for expungement directs people to "Apply for an Expungement Online" through the eCourts Expungement System, language that describes an application process rather than a passive, automatic clearing. Multiple public reports describe the automated procedure envisioned by the 2019 law as still under development among the Judiciary, the Attorney General, and the State Police, with eligible people in the meantime continuing to file petitions until the automated process comes online. Anyone relying on this page for a specific Clean Slate timeline should confirm the current status directly with njcourts.gov, since this is an area that has been actively moving. For general expungement eligibility and the filing process, see New Jersey expungement laws, which this page does not duplicate.
Certified Copies
Certified copies of New Jersey court documents are generally requested through the Superior Court Clerk's Office for the county where the case was filed. Confirm the current fee and process directly with that office, since fee specifics were not itemized in the sources reviewed for this page.
Using New Jersey Court Records the Right Way
New Jersey's free Find a Case tool is built for checking your own case or general public research, not for compiling a background file on someone else, and the paid EAP tier is priced and structured for institutional subscribers, not casual screening. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, most arrests and civil judgments age off a consumer report after seven years, but criminal convictions are carved out of that limit under 15 U.S.C. section 1681c(a)(5) and can be reported indefinitely unless the record has been expunged. Anyone assembling public court records for a hiring or housing decision may be acting as a consumer reporting agency under federal law, and the FTC has enforced this directly: in 2023 it reached a $5.8 million settlement with TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate over marketing public-records reports for tenant and employee screening without following FCRA requirements. Neither of New Jersey's own search tools is a substitute for an FCRA-compliant background check when the decision involves employment or housing.
Related Resources
Court Records by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, New Jersey Expungement Laws, New Jersey Background Check Laws, New Jersey Warrant Search, and New Jersey Public Records Laws.
Disclaimer
This article explains how New Jersey's court records tools are organized. It is general legal information, not legal advice. Clean Slate's automation status and portal fees are areas of active change; verify current details with njcourts.gov before relying on them. Consult a New Jersey-licensed attorney for advice about a specific case.
Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is New Jersey court records search free?
Yes, for individual searches. The eCourts Find a Case tool on njcourts.gov is free and covers civil, criminal, criminal judgment, judgment lien, tax court, and municipal court records. A separate paid Electronic Access Program exists for bulk subscribers.
What does New Jersey's Electronic Access Program (EAP) cost?
$4 per minute of use, with a required $500 minimum balance in a JACS account. It is aimed at bulk subscribers rather than one-off personal searches, and it does not include filed document text or images.
Does New Jersey's paid EAP tier show actual court documents?
No. The program's own description states that case information excludes actual text or images of filed documents. It provides case-processing information such as case type and a list of documents filed, not the documents themselves.
Is New Jersey's Clean Slate expungement automatic yet?
As of this writing, the fully automatic Clean Slate pipeline under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-5.3 does not appear to be operating yet. The Judiciary's own self-help guidance still directs people to apply for an expungement, and multiple reports describe the automated process as still under development.
What is Court Rule 1:38?
New Jersey Court Rule 1:38 establishes the general presumption that court records and administrative records are open for public inspection and copying, with a defined, narrowly construed set of exclusions set out in Rule 1:38-3 for specific categories of sensitive or confidential records. Consult Rule 1:38-3 directly on njcourts.gov for the current exact list.
How do I search New Jersey municipal court records?
Municipal court records are searched separately through NJMCDirect, linked from the eCourts Find a Case page rather than the Superior Court databases.
Updates
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- New Jersey Courts, Find a Case(njcourts.gov).gov
- New Jersey Courts, Superior Court Clerk's Office, Electronic Access Program(njcourts.gov).gov
- New Jersey Courts, Expunge a Criminal Record(njcourts.gov).gov
- New Jersey Courts, Administrative Directive #03-11, Public Access to Court Records and Administrative Records(njcourts.gov).gov
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, 15 U.S.C. 1681c, Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports(law.cornell.edu)
- Federal Trade Commission, FTC Says TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate Deceived Users About Background Report Accuracy, Violated FCRA(ftc.gov).gov