A New Jersey background check is a criminal history search run through the State Bureau of Identification, a division of the New Jersey State Police. There are two versions: a fingerprint-based check that matches your prints against the state’s master file, and a name-based check that searches on biographical data alone. Which one applies depends on who is asking and why. The process, cost, and legal limits shift with each answer, and state and federal law give you real protections against how the results can be used.
Fingerprint-Based and Name-Based Checks
Fingerprint-based checks are the more reliable of the two. They match a person’s actual prints against the state’s criminal history database, which eliminates the risk of confusing two people who share a name and birthday. These checks are used for personal record requests, licensing, employment in sensitive fields, and any situation where certainty matters.
Name-based checks search on full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number. They are faster and cheaper, but they carry a real risk of mismatches: someone else’s record can end up attached to your file if the identifiers overlap. The State Bureau of Identification handles both, but the forms, fees, and eligibility rules are different.
Requesting Your Own Criminal History Record
If you want a copy of your own record, New Jersey requires a fingerprint-based check. You schedule an appointment through IdentoGO, which IDEMIA runs under a state contract, either online or by phone. Pick a fingerprinting location, bring a valid government-issued photo ID, and a technician captures your digital prints and sends them straight to the State Bureau of Identification.1New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Instructions for In State Residents Requesting a New Jersey Fingerprint-Based Criminal History Record Check
The fee for a personal record request runs roughly $42 to $45, covering a state processing fee, a vendor fee, and sales tax. The exact number depends on the service code, which varies by reason (immigration, expungement, a professional license, and so on). Some regulated industries pay more. Payment is by credit or debit card at the fingerprinting site, and the results come back to you rather than to any third party. This is the check to run if you want to see your own record before applying for a job, an apartment, or a license.
Name-Based Checks for Employers and Organizations
Employers, nonprofits, and other authorized organizations run name-based checks through the SBI 212B, submitted online through the New Jersey State Police portal. Each submission costs $20, or $12 when the check is for volunteer work, paid by credit or debit card.2New Jersey State Police. Criminal History Record Request – Name Check (212B)
The 212B is limited to employers, licensing agencies, and similar non-governmental entities checking employees, applicants, or volunteers. It cannot be used to pull your own record. For that, you need the fingerprint process.3New Jersey State Police. Criminal History Record Request – Name Check (212B) – FAQ
The requestor submits the subject’s full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and any other identifying information. If they have your State Bureau of Identification (SBI) number, that speeds the search and reduces the chance of a mismatch.
What Appears on a New Jersey Criminal History Report
A New Jersey criminal history record generally shows arrests, criminal charges, court dispositions (convictions, dismissals, acquittals), pending cases, and sentencing information. It reflects data reported to the State Bureau of Identification by New Jersey law enforcement agencies and courts. Records from other states are not automatically included unless they were shared through interstate reporting.
Expunged or sealed records should not appear on a standard report. How complete the report is depends on whether agencies have properly updated their submissions to the state repository. Arrests that ended in dropped or dismissed charges still show up unless the person has taken steps to expunge them.
Federal Time Limits on Third-Party Reports
When a private screening company runs the check rather than the State Police, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act limits what can appear. Consumer reporting agencies cannot include arrests older than seven years if the arrest did not lead to a conviction. Civil judgments and most other negative items also drop off after seven years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
Criminal convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely. The seven-year cap also does not apply when the position pays $75,000 or more per year, when a credit transaction involves $150,000 or more, or when the report is for life insurance underwriting above $150,000.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
These limits apply only to third-party consumer reports. If an employer requests a check directly through the State Police or IdentoGO, the FCRA reporting window does not apply.
Employment Protections During Hiring
New Jersey’s Opportunity to Compete Act, known as the Ban the Box law, controls when employers can ask about your criminal history. They cannot put the question on the initial job application or bring it up in the early stages of hiring. The inquiry is only allowed after the employer has interviewed you, determined you are qualified, and picked you as the first choice for the position.5New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 34:6B-11 to 34:6B-19 – The Opportunity to Compete Act
p>Some positions are exempt from the timing restrictions. Employers can ask at any point when hiring for public safety roles (law enforcement, corrections, judiciary, homeland security, emergency management), for positions where a background check is required by federal or state law or where a conviction legally bars someone from the job, and for jobs in reentry programs designed to hire people with criminal records.
If you volunteer information about your criminal history during the initial application, the employer is free to discuss it then.
Penalties for violations escalate: up to $1,000 for a first offense, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for each after that. The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development enforces the law.
Federal Notice Requirements
An employer that uses a third-party screening company has to follow the FCRA on top of state timing rules. Before ordering the report, the employer must give you a standalone written disclosure that a background check will be run, and get your written authorization. The disclosure has to be a separate document, not tucked into the job application.6Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know
If the employer decides not to hire you based on the report, federal law requires a two-step notice. First, before the final decision, the employer sends a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of your FCRA rights, giving you a chance to spot errors. Then, after the final decision, a second notice identifies the reporting company, states that the company did not make the hiring decision, and tells you about your right to dispute inaccurate information and to request a free copy of the report within 60 days.6Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know
Housing Protections Under the Fair Chance in Housing Act
New Jersey’s Fair Chance in Housing Act limits how landlords use criminal history in rental decisions. Before extending a conditional offer, a landlord cannot ask about, require disclosure of, or consider your criminal record at all.7New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. New Jersey Code 46:8-52 – Fair Chance in Housing Act
Only two narrow exceptions apply before the offer. A landlord may check whether you have a conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing, or whether you are subject to lifetime registration on a state sex offender registry.8New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Fair Chance in Housing Act Additional Resources Document
Even after the conditional offer, landlords are permanently barred from considering certain records:
- Arrests or charges that did not result in a conviction
- Expunged convictions
- Convictions erased by executive pardon
- Vacated or legally nullified convictions
- Juvenile adjudications of delinquency
- Sealed records
These are off-limits at every stage.9Justia. New Jersey Code 46:8-56 – Housing Provider Evaluation of Applicant Criminal Records
Individualized Assessment Before Denial
If a landlord finds a qualifying conviction after the conditional offer, they cannot deny you automatically. The law requires an individualized assessment weighing the nature and severity of the offense, your age when it happened, how much time has passed, evidence of rehabilitation you provide, whether a repeat of the offense would realistically affect the safety of other tenants or the property, and whether the offense was connected to a property you previously rented.
If the landlord still withdraws the offer, they must give you written notice explaining why. You then have a chance to respond with additional context or evidence of rehabilitation before the decision becomes final.8New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Fair Chance in Housing Act Additional Resources Document
Landlords who violate the Act face civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for each after that, collected by the Attorney General. You can also file a complaint with the Division on Civil Rights or sue in Superior Court under the Law Against Discrimination.10New Jersey Legislature. New Jersey Code 46:8-52 – Fair Chance in Housing Act
How Expungement Changes What Shows Up
An expungement in New Jersey extracts and isolates all records of an arrest, charge, or conviction from court files, law enforcement databases, and correctional records. Once granted, the underlying events are legally treated as if they never happened. On most job, housing, and licensing applications, you can answer “no” when asked whether you have a criminal record, as long as everything on your record has been expunged.
Expunged records should not appear on a standard background check from a private screening company. The records are still physically stored but are isolated from the searchable database. In practice, some private databases scrape court records before an expungement is processed, so an old record can surface even after it should have been cleared. If that happens, you have the right to dispute the report.
Access to expunged records is very limited. A court can allow inspection only on a motion showing good cause, a compelling need based on specific facts, and only when the records are directly relevant to active litigation. Outside that narrow window, expunged records stay sealed from employers, landlords, and the public.
Disputing Errors on a Background Report
Mistakes on background reports are more common than people expect, especially with name-based checks where someone else’s record can end up attached to yours. If an employer or landlord takes action against you based on a report, you have the right to see it and challenge anything wrong.
The FCRA requires the employer or landlord to identify the screening company that supplied the report and to tell you that you can dispute inaccurate information directly with that company. You can also request an additional free copy of the report within 60 days of receiving the adverse action notice.6Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know
When you file a dispute, the screening company has to investigate and either verify, correct, or delete the contested information. If it cannot verify the information, it has to be removed. For errors that trace back to New Jersey state records, you may also need to contact the State Bureau of Identification directly to fix the underlying record, since private screening companies often pull from the same source. Correcting the root record keeps the same error from reappearing on later checks.