2021 Georgia Code
Title 42 - Penal Institutions
Chapter 8 - Probation
Article 3 - First Offenders
§ 42-8-63. Effect of Discharge Under Article on Eligibility for Employment or Appointment to Office

Except as provided in Code Section 42-8-63.1, a discharge under this article is not a conviction of a crime under the laws of this state and shall not be used to disqualify an individual in any application for employment or appointment to office in either the public or private sector.

(Ga. L. 1978, p. 1621, § 2; Ga. L. 2016, p. 443, § 6A-1/SB 367.)

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, substituted "provided in Code Section 42-8-63.1," for "otherwise provided in this article," near the beginning and substituted "shall not be used to disqualify an individual" for "may not be used to disqualify a person" in the middle.

- For article, "Labor and Employment Law," see 53 Mercer L. Rev. 349 (2001). For article on the 2016 amendment of this Code section, see 33 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 139 (2016).

Expungement upon completion of probation of the records of first offender treatment of criminal defendants runs contrary to the intent and the practical operation of the First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60 et seq. State v. C.S.B., 250 Ga. 261, 297 S.E.2d 260 (1982).

Cited in Sims v. Fox, 492 F.2d 1088 (5th Cir. 1974); Green v. State, 169 Ga. App. 71, 311 S.E.2d 505 (1983).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Employer using first offender discharge to disqualify job applicant.

- O.C.G.A. § 42-8-62 prohibits an employer from using a discharge under the first offender statute to disqualify a person in any application for employment or appointment in either the public or private sector; however, a discharge under the first offender treatment does not insulate the employee from the appropriate personnel action for the underlying facts that supported the initial criminal action nor does it bar an employer from considering the employee's guilty plea as an admission against interest in a subsequent personnel action. 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U86-25.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 21 Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, §§ 526-536. 21A Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law, §§ 946-956.

- 24 C.J.S., Criminal Law, §§ 2144-2161.

- Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult in absence of authorizing statute, 68 A.L.R.6th 1.

Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult under statute - General principles, and expunction of criminal records under statutes providing for such relief where criminal proceeding is terminated in favor of defendant, upon completion of probation, upon suspended sentence, and where expungement relief predicated upon type, and number, of offenses, 69 A.L.R.6th 1.

Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult under statute - Expunction under statutes addressing "first offenders" and "innocent persons," where conviction was for minor drug or other offense, where indictment has not been presented against accused or accused has been released from custody, and where court considered impact of nolle prosequi, partial dismissal, pardon, rehabilitation, and lesser-included offenses, 70 A.L.R.6th 1.

Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult in absence of authorizing statute, 68 A.L.R.6th 1.

Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult under statute - general principles, and expunction of criminal records under statutes providing for such relief where criminal proceeding is terminated in favor of defendant, upon completion of probation, upon suspended sentence, and where expungement relief predicated upon type, and number, of offenses, 69 A.L.R.6th 1.

Judicial expunction of criminal record of convicted adult under statute - expunction under statutes addressing "first offenders" and "innocent persons," where conviction was for minor drug or other offense, where indictment has not been presented against accused or accused has been released from custody, and where court considered impact of nolle prosequi, partial dismissal, pardon, rehabilitation, and lesser-included offenses, 70 A.L.R.6th 1.