Yes! The DeVetter Firm covers all of Georgia. As long as you need record restriction (what we call expungement in Georgia) in the state of Georgia, we can help you. The vast majority of record restrictions do not require a court appearance. If one is required, the hearing can be done electronically. If an in-person hearing is needed, we will be there! Thankfully, with electronic filing, case records, and hearings, your court case can be handled quickly and efficiently, often without the need for a court appearance. 

The DeVetter Firm offers statewide record restriction services. However, our probate litigation and estate planning services cover southeast Georgia only. 

Have questions about your particular case? Give us call or set up a free consultation today!

Record Restriction is what we call expungement in Georgia. In Georgia, you do not truly erase or “expunge” a criminal record – you restrict who can see it.

When you restrict a record, the public no longer has access to the arrest information, so landlords and employers can no longer see it. 

There are important exceptions to this – some groups like law enforcement and employers that work with children, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups can see even restricted records.

It’s also important to know that record restriction is different from sealing a court record. Record restriction limits access to the arrest records, but you must take an additional step to limit public access to court records. Limiting public access to court records is called “sealing”.

For more details, see our blog.

You can restrict public access to your criminal conviction records three main ways. If you get First Offender Act status for a criminal charge and successfully complete your sentence, the criminal charge becomes considered a non-conviction. It’s important to know that Georgia law allows you to go back and ask for First Offender status for a case if you were not offered it the first time. This is usually the best way to deal with a conviction record as it makes the entire case a non-conviction.

Your next options depend if the charge was a misdemeanor or a felony. If it was a misdemeanor, current Georgia law only allows you to file for restriction of the charge if you were under 21 at the time of conviction and not arrested in the last 5 years. However, Georgia law will change in 2021 to allow misdemeanor restrictions of most charges as long as it’s been four years from your last conviction. This is a significant change in Georgia law and will allow millions of people to restrict their conviction records. There are two important limitations: some charges are not eligible and you can only use the law to restrict TWO misdemeanor cases, so if you have more than two misdemeanor convictions you will need to determine which are the most problematic for you.

If you have a felony conviction, current Georgia law does not allow you to expunge the case. But a new law starting in 2021 allows felony convictions to be restricted if they have been pardoned. Some charges are not eligible and there are other limitations as well. See our blog for more information. 

Record restriction is different from sealing a court record. Record restriction limits access to the arrest records, but you must take an additional step to limit public access to court records. Limiting public access to court records is called “sealing”.

A pardon is “official forgiveness” of a criminal conviction. You get a pardon in Georgia from a state agency – the Board of Pardons and Paroles. They grant about 500 pardons a year. Getting a pardon does not restrict a charge from your criminal record. However, starting in 2021, pardoned offenses will become eligible for restriction, so pardons are more important than ever in Georgia.

The pardon process can give you some rights back – the right to hold office, sit on a jury and be a notary – and can also be used to request your right to possess a firearm.

To be eligible for a pardon, you must have completed all sentences and then wait five years. You cannot have any pending charges. See the Board of Pardons and Paroles website and our blog for more information.

For administrative record restriction (which requires sending off a paper request to an arresting agency), the timeline is set by law, but agencies vary in how long they take to complete the paperwork. In that process, the arresting agency has 30 days to process your Record Restriction Request and then they send it to the prosecutor. The prosecutor then has 90 days to process their portion of the form. Some jurisdictions can do the whole process in a few weeks; some take months. 

For sealing and record restriction motions you would file in court, it depends on the court and their schedule. Some, if they are agreed to by the DA’s office, can be done in a week. Some, if a judge requires a hearing and takes a long time to rule, can take a year or more. 

For either process, having an attorney can make the process faster.

Record Restriction is what we call expungement in Georgia. In Georgia, you do not truly erase or “expunge” a criminal record – you restrict who can see it.

Anyone with a criminal record can potentially restrict access to that record (aka expunge it). To know if you are eligible, you need to know the “disposition” (final outcome/sentence) of your case.

Generally, if your case did not end in conviction, you can restrict it. Dispositions for non-convictions can take many forms. The most common are: dismissed, nolle processed, First Offender, Conditional Discharge, pre-trial diversion that resulted in dismissal, dead docketed, not presented to grand jury, unindicted, vacated, reversed on appeal, and others.

If your case did end in a guilty plea or you were found guilty by a judge or jury, you usually must file a motion to restrict your case. If it was a misdemeanor, you can ask for restriction four years after your last conviction. (Some charges are not eligible and you can only use this option two times in your lifetime.) If it was a felony, you must get the felony pardoned and then you can ask for it to be restricted. There is a five year waiting period after completion of your last sentence before you can get a pardon. 

Some cases will not show up on your official criminal record, so they do not need to be expunged – most traffic offenses and municipal or county ordinance violations should not show up on your record.

It is highly recommended that you have an attorney review your criminal and case records to determine what you are eligible for before seeking any restriction or sealing.

Yes, you can generally restrict/expunge a misdemeanor in Georgia if you were not found guilty or if it’s been four years since your last conviction. See above and our blog for more details.

Yes, you can generally restrict/expunge a felony in Georgia if you were not found guilty or if you got the felony pardoned. See above and our blog for more details.

Record restriction is what we call the process of limiting access to a criminal record in Georgia. Some states call it “expungement”. Some states destroy records after they are expunged. Georgia does not do that – Georgia restricts public access to the record so that only certain people (law enforcement and certain employers) can see it.

Limiting public access to court records is called “sealing”. It’s important to know that record restriction is different from sealing a court record. Record restriction limits access to the arrest records, but you must take an additional step to limit public access to court records. Many background check companies get their information from court records, so it’s especially important in Georgia to seal the court record. You can only seal the court record after the record is approved for restriction, however, so you must either already have the arrest record restricted before asking for sealing or ask for restriction and sealing at the same time.

Prices are not guaranteed. They are listed here as approximations. Actual costs may vary once the details of the case have been outlined, negotiated, and finalized. Clients will be informed of any changes in cost in advance.