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Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 17. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Chapter 8. TRIAL · Article 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

17-8-6. Authority of municipal court to seal criminal records.

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Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. (a)

    Any judge of a municipal court of any municipality of this state or any judge hearing cases for any such court wherein a municipal court is a court of first instance in criminal cases shall have the authority to seal, to all persons except criminal justice officials, all criminal records of the municipality, including, but not limited to, records of arrest, fingerprints, and photographs, whether maintained in the police agency of the municipality or elsewhere in the municipality, related to any individual, upon a finding by such a judge that one of the following conditions exists:#

    1. (1)

      When, upon the call of a case for trial, criminal charges against the individual are dismissed either:#

      1. (A)

        Upon the motion of the arresting officer; or#

      2. (B)

        Because of the lack of prosecution of such charges by the arresting officer or the municipality; or#

    2. (2)

      When criminal charges against the individual are the subject of a pretrial disposition by the municipal prosecutor, provided that the terms and conditions of the pretrial disposition are satisfied.#

  2. (b)

    Any order sealing the records of an individual, as provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section, shall in no way constitute an adjudication of any illegal or wrongful action on the part of the arresting officer or the municipality.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1980, p. 1683, § 1.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t17-(v15)-2020-pdf.pdf, Volume V15, 2020 edition, page 745; merge action: carried; file SHA-256 0b0d45f9c609.

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O.C.G.A. § 17-8-6. Authority of municipal court to seal criminal records. | Georgia Commons