Record Restriction Frequently Asked Questions

Record restriction means that eligible records on your official criminal history report are restricted from public view and are only accessible to law enforcement agencies for criminal justice purposes.

No, only the name of the process has changed. Georgia's old law used the term 'expungement', which implied that criminal record information was deleted or destroyed. 

You may qualify for record restriction if your case resulted with a non-guilty disposition, without a conviction or was reduced to a local ordinance.

Please contact the Record Restriction Unit of the Office of the City Solicitor at recordrestriction@atlantaga.gov, or you may call us at (404) 954-7924.

Contact the Atlanta Municipal Court Clerk's Office and give them your name and case number.

Record restriction removes arrests from the employment level searches on the official Georgia Criminal History provided by the GBI. However, the case paperwork remains open. In order to seal the court paperwork, a petition must be filed with one of our judges to have the court paperwork sealed. This service cannot be accomplished remotely.  

If you entered a plea or paid a fine on any charge, those charges cannot be restricted, nor can the court file be sealed. 

It depends, please contact the Record Restriction Unit of the Office of the City Solicitor at recordrestriction@atlantaga.gov, or you may call us at (404) 954-7924. 

If your arrest was after July 1, 2013, please file with the Office of the City Solicitor by clicking here. 

Please contact the Record Restriction Unit of the Office of the City Solicitor at recordrestriction@atlantaga.gov, or you may call us at (404) 954-7924 to seek the status of your application. 

Generally, the process can take up to four (4) weeks, depending on the availability of information and other factors.