Georgia (GA) — Expungement & Record Clearing

Remedy

Record restriction of non-conviction records (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)–(j), (n)); court-file sealing after restriction (§ 35-3-37(m))

Waiting period

None after a dismissal, nolle prosequi or acquittal. If no charge is ever filed and no referral is reported, GCIC restricts the arrest after 2 years (misdemeanors), 4 years (most felonies) or 7 years (serious violent felonies and certain child sex felonies). Dead-docketed charges: more than 12 months on the dead docket (court petition).

For arrests on or after July 1, 2013, the law tells GCIC to restrict the record when the case was never referred for prosecution, was dismissed or nolle prossed (or reduced to a local ordinance violation), or ended in acquittal; there is no application form, and GBI tells people to contact the prosecutor if the arrest still shows. For arrests before July 1, 2013, you file a written request with the arresting agency and the prosecutor decides within 90 days. A charge left on the dead docket for more than 12 months can be restricted only by asking the court.

• ✗Dismissal or nolle prosequi because of a plea deal that convicted the person of an offense from the same incident
• ✗Dismissal because the prosecutor was barred from using material evidence (for example, after a motion to suppress)
• ✗Some acquittals: the prosecutor can block restriction within 10 days of the verdict in limited situations
• ✗Cases where only some charges ended in acquittal
• ✗Dead-docket petitions are denied while an active warrant is pending
• ✗Also relevant to arrests: if a felony charge was dismissed or ended in acquittal but the person was convicted of an unrelated (not lesser-included) misdemeanor, the person may petition to restrict the felony charge within four years of the arrest (§ 35-3-37(j)(1)); a conviction that was vacated or reversed and not retried within two years can also be restricted by petition (§ 35-3-37(j)(2)).
• ✗Records restricted only because no disposition was reported (time-expired) can still be sent to the FBI and other states for employment and licensing checks

Sources: SB 288 (2020), Act 582, enrolled text (SB 288/AP), § 1-1 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)(1)(B); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)(2)(A); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)(2)(E); +7 more); GBI, Georgia Law Regarding Time Expired Restrictions (PDF) (Quoting O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)(1)(A)(ii); Time-Expired Restrictions and Out-of-State Criminal History Background Checks); GBI, Georgia Criminal History Record Restrictions (Main text); Georgia.gov, File Request to Expunge a Criminal Record (Arrests On or After July 1, 2013)

Remedy

Restriction and sealing of misdemeanor convictions by court petition (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4), added by SB 288, effective Jan. 1, 2021; court-file sealing under § 35-3-37(m))

Waiting period

The sentence must be completed, and the person must have no conviction for any crime in any jurisdiction (other than nonserious traffic offenses) for at least four years before filing, and no pending charges.

A person convicted of a misdemeanor, or a series of misdemeanors from one incident, may petition the court where the conviction happened. The court must grant restriction if the harm to the person clearly outweighs the public's interest in the record. A person may ask to restrict only two such convictions in a lifetime, and a denied petition can be refiled after two years. The law applies to sentences imposed before, on, or after July 1, 2020.

• ✗Family violence simple assault, simple battery and battery, unless the person was a youthful offender (under 21)
• ✗Family violence stalking and violating a family violence order
• ✗Child molestation, enticing a child, and offenses related to minors
• ✗Improper sexual contact by an employee, agent, foster parent, or person in a position of trust
• ✗Public indecency, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, pandering by compulsion, sexual battery, and peeping Toms
• ✗Obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call
• ✗Theft offenses, except misdemeanor shoplifting or refund fraud
• ✗Serious traffic offenses (Article 15 of Chapter 6 of Title 40), such as DUI and reckless driving
• ✗No more than two convictions (or single-incident series) per lifetime

Sources: SB 288 (2020), Act 582, enrolled text (SB 288/AP), § 1-1 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(A); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B)(i); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(a)(10); +16 more); SB 117 (2021), Act 237, enrolled text, § 3 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B)(viii) (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B)(viii)); Office of Legislative Counsel, Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2020 Session (Title 17/35 summaries, Act 582; SB 288); Fulton County Solicitor-General, Record Restriction (Guilty Resolutions (footnote))

Remedy

Restriction and sealing of pardoned convictions by court petition (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j), pardon paragraph added by SB 288); restriction for trafficking survivors (§ 35-3-37(j)(6)); First Offender Act restriction and sealing (§§ 42-8-62.1, 42-8-62.2) where no guilt was adjudicated

Waiting period

Section 35-3-37 sets no separate wait, but the pardon must come first: the Board generally requires all sentences to be completed at least five years before applying (ten years for sex offenses that require registration), and pardon processing takes about six to nine months on average.

Georgia has no general petition to restrict a felony conviction. A felony conviction can be restricted and sealed only after a pardon from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and only if it was not a serious violent felony or a sexual offense, the person has had no conviction since the pardon (other than nonserious traffic offenses), and nothing is pending. People convicted while they were a victim of trafficking can petition separately. Under the First Offender Act, a person who completes the sentence is discharged without an adjudication of guilt; since July 1, 2026 the court must restrict and seal those records at sentencing.

• ✗Serious violent felonies (as defined in O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1)
• ✗Sexual offenses (as defined in O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.2)
• ✗Any new conviction since the pardon, other than a nonserious traffic offense
• ✗Pending charges

Sources: SB 288 (2020), Act 582, enrolled text (SB 288/AP), § 1-1 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j), pardoned-conviction paragraph (enacted as (j)(6) by SB 288); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j), pardoned-conviction paragraph); State Board of Pardons and Paroles, Pardons & Restoration of Rights (To qualify for a Pardon; To qualify for a Pardon for sex offenses; FAQ: How long does it take; Glossary: Pardon); HB 1201 (2024), Act 490, enrolled text, § 3 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(6) (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(6)(A)); HB 162 (2026), Act 403, enrolled text (HB 162/AP) (§ 4, new O.C.G.A. § 42-8-62.2(b); § 3, new O.C.G.A. § 42-8-62.1(b)(1); § 3, new O.C.G.A. § 42-8-62.1(b)(1)(B)); Office of Legislative Counsel, Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2026 Session (Title 35, Act 403; HB 162)

Remedy

Excluded from misdemeanor-conviction restriction as a serious traffic offense (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B)); the pardon route in § 35-3-37(j) is the only conviction path

Waiting period

No single period — see the conditions below

Georgia's misdemeanor restriction law excludes any "serious traffic offense" under Article 15 of Chapter 6 of Title 40, and Fulton County's Solicitor-General lists DUI and reckless driving among the serious traffic offenses that are not eligible. The pardon paragraph of § 35-3-37 excludes only serious violent felonies and sexual offenses, so a pardoned DUI conviction is not expressly barred. A DUI arrest that ended in dismissal or acquittal is a non-conviction record and follows the arrest rules.

• ✗DUI convictions are excluded from misdemeanor-conviction restriction (serious traffic offense)

Sources: SB 288 (2020), Act 582, enrolled text (SB 288/AP), § 1-1 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(B)(xviii); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(a)(4), definition of 'nonserious traffic offense'; O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j), pardoned-conviction paragraph); Fulton County Solicitor-General, Record Restriction (Guilty Resolutions (footnote))

Remedy

Conditional discharge for first-offense possession (O.C.G.A. § 16-13-2) with record restriction under § 35-3-37(h)(2)(B) and optional sealing at sentencing (§ 16-13-2(d)); misdemeanor-conviction restriction (§ 35-3-37(j)(4)); pardon route for felony convictions

Waiting period

None once conditional-discharge probation is completed (or at sentencing if the court orders restriction). A misdemeanor conviction petition requires four conviction-free years before filing.

A person with no prior drug conviction who pleads guilty to or is found guilty of possession can be put on probation without a judgment of guilt (conditional discharge), and this can happen only once. GCIC restricts the record when the probation is completed, or earlier if the court orders restriction at sentencing; at sentencing the court may also order the court file sealed. A possession conviction that is a misdemeanor can use the misdemeanor petition; a felony possession conviction needs a pardon first. No cannabis-specific record-clearing law was found.

• ✗Conditional discharge is limited to people not previously convicted of a drug offense
• ✗Conditional discharge can be used only once per person

Sources: GBI, Obtaining Criminal History Record Information FAQ (quoting O.C.G.A. § 16-13-2(a)) (What is Conditional Discharge?); SB 288 (2020), Act 582, enrolled text (SB 288/AP), § 1-1 revising O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37 (O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(h)(2)(B); O.C.G.A. § 16-13-2(d)(2)(A); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j)(4)(A); O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37(j), pardoned-conviction paragraph (enacted as (j)(6) by SB 288))

Remedy

Sealing of juvenile court files and records (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701)

Waiting period

None for dismissed or informally handled cases; two years after final discharge for adjudicated cases.

The juvenile court must seal the files when a delinquency or child-in-need-of-services petition or complaint is dismissed, or the case is handled by informal adjustment, mediation, or another nonadjudicatory process. A person who was adjudicated can apply (or the court can act on its own), and after a hearing the court shall seal the records if the statutory conditions are met. Once sealed, the proceeding is treated as if it never occurred. GBI says the records it releases for employment and licensing leave out juvenile records.

• ✗A felony or moral-turpitude misdemeanor conviction, or a new adjudication, since final discharge
• ✗A pending proceeding seeking conviction or adjudication
• ✗The court must find the person has been rehabilitated

Sources: HB 242 (2013), enrolled text (HB 242/AP), enacting O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701 (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701(a); O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701(b); O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701(b)(1); O.C.G.A. § 15-11-701(b)(2); +1 more); GBI, Obtaining Criminal History Record Information FAQ (What Georgia CHRI is released for employment or licensing purposes?)