What is the Georgia First Offender Act?

Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60) allows the Courts discretion to sentence a Defendant under the First Offender Act for qualified offenses. This allows some first-time offenders the opportunity to avoid conviction by adhering to special conditions set forth in their sentence. More specifically, when a Defendant has not been previously convicted of a felony, the Court may, in conjunction with a guilty plea, defer further proceedings and sentence the Defendant without an adjudication of guilt. This means that a conviction will not be entered for the offense, so long as the special conditions of the sentence are met. Once the sentence is completed successfully, the case is discharged and the record is restricted with no conviction. An individual who completes their case under first offender may truthfully answer they have never been convicted of a crime, and stands fully exonerated.

What if I already have a felony conviction but never used First Offender?

New law has been enacted to allow for retroactive treatment on cases that are already closed, and that previously resulted in a conviction- despite the age of the case. This applies to anyone who was eligible for first offender at the time they were originally sentenced, but were never advised of their rights under first offender guidelines, and/or simply did not discuss first offender options at the time. The petition for Retroactive First Offender should be handled by experienced legal counsel. The process is initiated by filing the proper motion and notices with the Court of original jurisdiction, and usually requires a hearing before a Judge. If the request is granted, the case is discharged and the record will be modified by the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) to remove the conviction from your criminal history. Because the conviction is removed entirely, any and all rights that were previously impacted by the conviction are fully restored; including firearm rights.