(formerly known as Expungement)
Georgia law allows individuals to examine their own criminal records as maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at the Georgia Criminal Information Center (GCIC).
If you think your criminal record is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request the arresting agency purge (expunge), modify, or supplement the records of arrests, including fingerprint cards, and to notify the GCIC of the changes.
Official Code of Georgia Annotated §35-3-37(d) generally allows for expungement of arrest records where either the person arrested was released by the police without being charged; or where the prosecutor drops the charges without seeking an indictment or other formal charges.
After an indictment is returned by the Grand Jury, however, the arrests will not be expunged unless certain conditions are met. Broadly speaking, if you plead guilty to any offense arising out of the arrest, expungement of that arrest from your criminal records is not authorized.
There are special rules for people who plead guilty and successfully complete any conditions for First Offender treatment. And, old guilty pleas to petty offenses in municipal court sometimes can be expunged because the criminal records are not maintained more than 20 to 25 years.
If you qualify for expungement, this process is very helpful and worthwhile, as some job applications ask if you were ever arrested, not just convicted of a crime.