Many people still call it expungement. In Georgia, the process is record restriction. It can hide certain arrests from the public background checks that employers and landlords use. It does not wipe the record off the map, and it does not apply to every charge. Knowing what actually qualifies saves you from filing something the GBI will reject.
A Marietta criminal defense attorney can read the disposition on your case, match it to O.C.G.A. § 35-3-37, and tell you whether restriction is automatic, requires an application, or is not available at all.
Record Restriction Is Not Expungement
Restriction limits who can see the entry on your Georgia criminal history. After it is applied, a standard commercial background check should not show the restricted arrest. Criminal justice agencies, certain licensing boards, and some government inquiries can still access it.
The record itself stays in the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) system. That is why the old word “expungement” is misleading. Nothing is erased. Access is limited.
What Can Be Restricted
The strongest cases are arrests that did not end in a conviction. That usually includes:
- Charges dismissed by the court
- Charges the prosecutor dropped (nolle prosequi)
- Acquittals at trial
- Cases resolved through a qualifying pretrial diversion program
- Arrests that were never prosecuted, after the waiting period in the statute
- Cases left on the dead docket for at least 12 months (this path often requires a petition)
For arrests on or after July 1, 2013 that ended without a conviction, restriction is often supposed to happen when the final disposition is entered into GCIC. In practice, clerks and agencies miss that step. If a dismissed Marietta or Cobb County arrest still appears on a background check, the problem is often a missing or incorrect disposition, not a lack of eligibility.
For arrests before July 1, 2013, restriction is usually not automatic. You typically start with an application at the arresting agency, then the prosecutor and the GBI.
Since 2021, Georgia also allows restriction of a limited number of eligible misdemeanor convictions after you finish the sentence and meet a waiting period (generally four years with no new conviction and no pending charges). Not every misdemeanor qualifies. DUI convictions under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391 are excluded. Sex offense convictions and serious violent felonies are excluded. Most felony convictions cannot be restricted unless a separate path applies, such as First Offender treatment that was completed or a pardon.
What Usually Cannot Be Restricted
- Most felony convictions
- DUI convictions
- Sex offense convictions
- Serious violent felony convictions
- Cases that are still pending
- Convictions that fall on the statute’s ineligible list
Eligibility also depends on how many prior convictions you have and whether anything new is pending. Two people with the same charge can get different answers if their records look different.
Why Restriction Is Worth Doing When You Qualify
A visible arrest can block a job, an apartment, a school application, or a volunteer screening even when the case was dismissed. Restriction does not change what happened. It changes who can see it on an ordinary background check.
It does not hide the case from police, prosecutors, or courts. If you are arrested again, the restricted history can still be used inside the justice system.
How the Process Works
The path depends on the date of the arrest and the outcome of the case.
Non-conviction cases after July 1, 2013. Confirm that the clerk and prosecutor entered the correct disposition. If they did, GBI should restrict the record. If they did not, the first job is to get the court record fixed, not to file a new lawsuit.
Older non-conviction cases. File the GBI record restriction application with the arresting agency. The agency reviews it, the prosecutor reviews it, and GBI updates GCIC if it is approved. Agencies can charge a processing fee. Incomplete forms and missing dispositions are the usual reasons for delay.
Eligible misdemeanor convictions. You petition the court in the county of conviction after you complete the sentence and satisfy the waiting period. The prosecutor can object. The judge decides.
For a charge out of Marietta Municipal Court, Cobb State Court, or Cobb Superior Court, the paperwork has to match that court’s disposition. A Marietta criminal defense attorney can pull the file, confirm the outcome, and send the request to the right agency instead of guessing.
After Restriction Is Granted
Order your official Georgia criminal history from GBI and read it. Do not rely on a free internet search. If the restricted arrest is still showing, go back to the court clerk, the arresting agency, or GBI and correct the entry.
Keep copies of the order or approval. Private background-check companies sometimes lag behind GCIC. If an employer or landlord is still seeing the old entry, the printout from GBI is what you use to challenge it.
Restricted records remain available to criminal justice agencies and to some government and licensing inquiries. Plan for that if you are applying for a professional license, a security clearance, or certain public jobs.
Find Out If You Qualify
Eligibility is the whole question. The charge, the date of arrest, the final disposition, and your later record all have to line up with the statute.
If you want to know whether a Marietta or Cobb County charge on your record can be restricted, a Marietta criminal defense attorney can review the disposition and tell you whether the next step is an automatic update, an agency application, a court petition, or a hard no.
