HB673: HB673 Criminal procedure; limitations on bars to first offender treatment for certain minor offenders adjudicated as adults; provide

Under current Georgia law, people convicted of a serious violent felony or a sexual offense cannot receive first offender treatment, a sentencing option that lets a defendant avoid a formal conviction record if they complete probation successfully. This bill creates an exception to that ban for defendants who were under age 17 and were adjudicated under O.C.G.A. § 15-11-560, the law that allows certain juveniles to be tried as adults for the most serious offenses. The bill adds a new option letting a judge sentence such a minor to a mix of confinement and probation as a first offender. It also sets conditions before a court clerk is notified that the sentence is complete, including that the person did not violate probation and, for sex offenses, was classified as a Level I risk by the Georgia Sexual Offender Risk Review Board. Separately, it lets people already sentenced this way as minors petition later for retroactive first offender status and to have their case exonerated and discharged.

• Creates an exception in O.C.G.A. §§ 17-10-6.1 and 17-10-6.2 so the ban on first offender treatment for serious violent felonies and sexual offenses does not apply to certain minors adjudicated as adults.
• Adds a new provision to O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 letting a judge sentence a defendant under 17 who was adjudicated under § 15-11-560 to a combined term of confinement and probation as a first offender.
• Requires the Department of Community Supervision to notify the court clerk within 30 days of a qualifying minor completing or being released from such a sentence, subject to specific conditions.
• Excludes minors sentenced under the new provision from the list of offenses that otherwise bar first offender status under § 42-8-60(j).
• Amends O.C.G.A. § 42-8-66 to let individuals who were under 17 and sentenced under § 15-11-560 petition, with prosecutor consent, for retroactive first offender status and exoneration.

The bill affects minors who were prosecuted and sentenced as adults for serious violent felonies, sexual offenses, or other listed crimes, along with prosecutors, judges, the Department of Community Supervision, court clerks, and the Georgia Sexual Offender Risk Review Board involved in their cases.

For young people convicted of serious crimes as adults, this bill could mean the chance to avoid a permanent felony record if they complete probation without violations, potentially affecting their future employment, housing, and legal rights, while still requiring risk review for sex offense cases.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1 to exempt certain minors from the general ban on first offender sentencing for serious violent felonies.
• Section 2 makes the same kind of exemption in O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.2 for sexual offenses.
• Section 3 adds subsection (a.1) to § 42-8-60, letting courts sentence a defendant under 17 adjudicated under § 15-11-560 to confinement plus probation as a first offender, and adds notification requirements in paragraph (6) of subsection (f).
• Section 3 also revises subsection (j) of § 42-8-60 to carve out the new (a.1) category from the list of offenses barring first offender treatment.
• Section 4 amends § 42-8-66 to allow petitions for retroactive first offender status and exoneration for those sentenced as minors under § 15-11-560, with prosecutor consent.
• Section 5 repeals all conflicting laws.

1. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)

• juvenile justice
• first offender treatment
• criminal sentencing
• sex offender registry
• criminal procedure