Steal something worth more than $200 in New Jersey, and under certain circumstances, you are eligible for the pre-trial intervention program, which results in the crime being removed from your record.
Steal something worth less than $200, and no such program is available to you in New Jersey. If convicted, the crime goes on your criminal record.
People charged with crimes get little sympathy - and indeed often deserve little sympathy. But justice must be tempered with mercy - and common sense. That's why New Jersey has a pre-trial intervention program, known as PTI, for certain first-time offenders who are charged with indictable offenses.
Admission to the PTI program is far from automatic. It depends on the nature of the crime, the situation that prompted the crime and various other factors. The decision is made by a judge, based on a recommendation from the county prosecutor and the program director. The goal is not to clog the court system or the prisons due to offenses that can be adequately handled through community service, counseling or restitution.
But, ironically, PTI is not available to defendants charged with lesser, nonindictable offenses that are handled in municipal court.