Episode 7: Retroactive First Offender Treatment

In 2015, the state of Georgia amended its First Offender Act to allow people to ask for First Offender Treatment after-the-fact. That means people convicted of felonies way back in even 1990 can now petition the Court to treat them as a First Offender. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been. If granted, that officially exonerates the person of the offense. They are no longer “convicted felons”. This change in the law is specifically aimed to help those who were not informed of their right to ask for First Offender Treatment at the time they were sentenced.

The new law also allows people convicted of old misdemeanors to petition the Court for the same treatment. This is most helpful for people convicted of misdemeanors that make it difficult to get jobs. The most common are theft/shoplifting-related offenses.

Finally, once the Court grants retroactive First Offender Treatment, the person’s criminal history is restricted and they can, also, petition the Court to “seal” the Clerk of Court record. This procedure takes the information off the Court’s website and makes the file unavailable to the public without a court order.