there are a staggering 46,000 unprocessed expungement orders in New Jersey that means 46,000 people who should have charges against them removed from their records are still living with the limitations of a criminal record and while legislation is moving forward to help Rectify some of the issues around that today the Union County Board of County Commissioners held a free expungement clinic in Rosel to help pair residents who are seeking expungement with attorneys who can help them Melissa Rose Cooper has more on the expungement process and what it means for those impacted i c i c a uh a charge quite some years back not too proud of it a past mistake Lavar Parker says has negatively impacted his life over the years from employment opportunities business opportunities uh you know kids getting older being able to Google things look things up you know it's a lot of things that you're not too proud of but I could be proud of the future that's in front of me so Parker is taking steps to reach his goal joining more than a hundred others who registered for this expungement clinic in Union County it's the second one this year shed they come here talk to a lawyer who we have lawyers on site who are working with them throughout the whole entire process and not only work with them today but throughout the whole entire process of the expungement getting your record expunge they wor them every step of the way which is one of the great things it's not like you just come here today meet with a lawyer and that's it no throughout the months that you actually are getting a record expunge this lawyer will stay in contact with you and making sure they're guiding through the home ire process County Commissioner Sergio Granado says the goal is to give residents a chance to achieve new opportunities that are often taken away from them having committed low-level non-violent crimes in the past you know one of our main focuses is believing in second chances and this is a way that so many people can't get jobs you know can't move forward in certain career paths you know educational paths because of their record and this is our way to hopefully make sure it's clean dry and provide a new opportunity for them people come here and they can ask questions too you know times it's not only about getting your record expunged we have lawyers here who will actually help guide you and provide you additional information that you might be beneficial to you for the future so that's one of the great things about it too the Union County Board of County Commissioners teaming up with consulting firm Blaze responsibly to provide expungement services for free it's an initiative that hits home for co-founder Akash Patel we've had a lot of friends that have you know dealt with the situation family members things of that nature so being in law we realize that it's 1,500 $2,000 to get your record expunged so we would tell our friends go get your record expunged and then we'll help you get a job but the problem is people just don't have the extra $1,500 to get it done so they keep pushing it off pushing it off like today there's a gentleman here that uh 45 years he got his record 45 years ago and he just kept pushing it off right so our goal our goal was let's find organizations that could team up with us and help us put these together and then we could actually do the ground work and the footwork and get these expungements done lawmakers are also working to make sure residents get Second Chances especially given the backlog of 46,000 expungements that still need to be processed by the state police a bill sponsored by assembly woman Anette kiano would prohibit State Police from releasing someone's record during a background check after an expungement has been granted but not yet completed that bill Advanced out of the assembly Judiciary Committee earlier this week doors will open that have been closed uh opportunities will be back on the table just better future to provide for my children and myself Parker says he wants to give back and help others like him in the future the county plans on holding more expungement clinics in the coming year for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper