A fourth-degree crime in New Jersey is the lowest tier of indictable offense, carrying up to 18 months in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000. It sits at the bottom of the state’s felony-equivalent ladder, but a conviction still creates a permanent criminal record with consequences that reach far past sentencing. For a first-time offender with no prior record, prison is often avoidable; the record itself is harder to escape.
Where It Fits in New Jersey’s Crime Structure
New Jersey doesn’t use the “felony” and “misdemeanor” labels most other states rely on. Offenses are split into indictable crimes, which are prosecuted in Superior Court after a grand jury indictment, and disorderly persons offenses, which are handled in municipal court. Indictable crimes are graded from first degree down to fourth degree.1Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:1-4 – Classes of Offenses
A fourth-degree charge is still an indictable crime. That’s the key distinction. Even though it’s the least serious grade, it produces the same category of long-term problems associated with felonies elsewhere: firearm loss, immigration exposure, and a conviction that follows you through background checks. A disorderly persons offense tops out at six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine and does not carry that weight.
Prison Time and Fines
The statutory maximum is 18 months in state prison.2Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:43-6 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Crime That’s the ceiling, not the expected outcome. New Jersey law creates a presumption of non-incarceration for people convicted of a fourth-degree crime who have no prior record, meaning the court starts from the position that probation or another alternative is more appropriate than prison.3Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:44-1 – Criteria for Withholding or Imposing Sentence of Imprisonment A judge can override that presumption if aggravating factors outweigh mitigating ones, but for a first-time defendant, it’s a meaningful thumb on the scale.
The maximum fine is $10,000.4Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:43-3 – Fines and Restitutions One exception: possession of a Schedule V controlled substance is a fourth-degree crime with a higher fine ceiling of $15,000.5Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:35-10 – Possession, Use or Being Under the Influence, or Failure to Make Lawful Disposition On top of the fine, courts impose mandatory assessments, including a payment to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office, which can add several hundred dollars.
Other common sentencing outcomes include probation with conditions such as community service, drug testing, or counseling, and restitution to any victim who suffered financial loss.
Offenses Charged as Fourth-Degree Crimes
Fourth-degree grading appears across many parts of the New Jersey criminal code. Some of the charges people see most often:
- Theft of property worth $200 to $500. Theft is graded by dollar value, and this range falls in the fourth-degree band.6NJ Courts. Gradation of Theft Offenses Dependent on the Amount of Money or Value of Property Involved (N.J.S.A. 2C:20-2b)
- Assault by auto or vessel causing serious bodily injury. If only bodily injury results, the charge drops to a disorderly persons offense.7Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:12-1 – Assault
- Simple assault on a law enforcement officer where no bodily injury results. If the officer is injured, the charge rises to third degree.7Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:12-1 – Assault
- Purposely or knowingly violating a domestic violence restraining order, when the underlying conduct could also constitute a separate criminal or disorderly persons offense.8Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:29-9 – Contempt
- Possession of a Schedule V controlled substance without a prescription.5Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:35-10 – Possession, Use or Being Under the Influence, or Failure to Make Lawful Disposition
- Criminal mischief causing $500 to $2,000 in damage.
- Forgery. Certain document types (currency, government-issued securities) push the grading higher.9Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:21-1 – Forgery and Related Offenses
Compared with the higher grades, the difference is stark. Third-degree crimes carry 3 to 5 years in prison; second-degree, 5 to 10 years with a presumption of incarceration; first-degree, 10 to 20 years.2Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:43-6 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Crime Fourth-degree sits in a zone where a first offense often ends without prison time, but the conviction still marks you as someone with an indictable offense on record.
Diverting the Case Through Pretrial Intervention
Pretrial Intervention (PTI) is the most valuable option for someone facing a fourth-degree charge for the first time. PTI puts the defendant on court-supervised probation instead of proceeding to trial or plea. Complete the program and the charges are dismissed. No conviction. No record of one.10Justia Law. New Jersey Code 2C:43-12 – Supervisory Treatment
PTI is generally reserved for people who have not previously been convicted of a crime. The program runs between one and three years, and participants must comply with whatever conditions the court sets, which can include community service, substance abuse treatment, or counseling. Failing the program sends the case back into normal prosecution.
For a fourth-degree charge, where the offense is serious enough to matter but not so serious that prosecutors routinely oppose diversion, PTI is often within reach. It is worth discussing with counsel before agreeing to any plea.
What a Conviction Costs You Beyond Court
The sentence and the fine are what the judge hands down. The consequences below are what follow you afterward, and for many people they cause more disruption than the sentence itself.
Firearms
A fourth-degree conviction triggers a federal prohibition on possessing firearms or ammunition. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from owning or possessing a gun.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Because the fourth-degree maximum is 18 months, the charge clears that line. The ban applies whether or not you actually served prison time.
Employment and Housing
Convictions show up on background checks indefinitely. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, criminal convictions have no time limit for reporting, so an employer or landlord could see a fourth-degree conviction decades later.12Federal Register. Fair Credit Reporting – Background Screening New Jersey’s fair-chance hiring rules restrict when employers can ask about criminal history, but they don’t hide the record once a check is actually run.
Immigration
For non-citizens, a fourth-degree conviction can be devastating. Federal law makes deportation possible for anyone convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude within five years of admission if the crime carries a potential sentence of one year or more.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Fourth-degree crimes clear that threshold. Controlled substance convictions create an independent ground for deportation regardless of sentence length. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should speak with an immigration attorney before accepting any plea.
Voting
New Jersey restored voting rights to people on probation and parole in 2020. You lose the right to vote only while actually incarcerated. Once released, voting rights are automatically restored, even during probation or parole.
Clearing the Record Later
New Jersey lets people convicted of indictable offenses, including fourth-degree crimes, petition for expungement. The standard waiting period is five years from the latest of the following: the date of the most recent conviction, payment of any court-ordered financial assessment, completion of probation or parole, or release from incarceration. A granted petition seals the conviction from public view.
Not every fourth-degree offense qualifies. Certain serious crimes are permanently excluded, and the court weighs your full criminal history and post-conviction conduct. The process involves filing a petition, serving it on the prosecutor and relevant law enforcement agencies, and attending a hearing.
There is also an automated “clean slate” process that can render certain records inaccessible to the public after ten years without a petition. Legislation has been introduced to shorten that window to seven years, so anyone counting on the automated route should confirm the current timeline with the court clerk’s office.
If a defendant enters and successfully completes New Jersey’s drug court program (called “special probation”), expungement of the underlying conviction may be available immediately on discharge, without the standard five-year wait.