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House approves modernization of First Offender Act to seal records at sentencing
Summary
House Bill 162 passed the Georgia House 172–0 to require courts to seal First Offender records at sentencing and permit unsealing if the defendant fails to complete the court‑ordered program; sponsors said the change restores the act’s original intent to provide a meaningful second chance.
The Georgia House on Feb. 19 passed House Bill 162, a measure to modernize the First Offender Act by requiring records to be sealed at the time of sentencing and allowing a judge to unseal those records if an individual does not successfully complete the agreed sentence. The vote was 172–0.
Representative Lisa Hagen, the bill’s sponsor, told the chamber the First Offender Act was enacted in the 1960s to give people who made an isolated mistake a fresh start. "If someone...pleads first offender and they successfully complete their sentence, it's actually a non-conviction," Hagen said on the floor. She argued the bill addresses the reality that many court records are now easily accessible online and that sealing at sentencing would better preserve the law’s intended second-chance relief.
Hagen said the bill preserves law-enforcement and court access where appropriate while protecting employment and housing opportunities for people who successfully complete the program. Members asked whether law enforcement and judicial searches would still have access to sealed records; sponsors said the bill preserves those access routes. A question from the floor clarified that people sentenced before July 1, 2025, may petition a judge to obtain the same sealing relief rather than receiving it automatically.
After adopting the committee substitute and agreeing to the committee report, the House voted to pass the bill; the clerk recorded the yeas 172, nays 0. If enacted, the bill will change the timing and practice for sealing First Offender records under state law and is intended by supporters to make the legal relief promised at plea more effective in practice.
Votes and action: House Bill 162 passed 172–0. The bill’s floor debate emphasized rehabilitation and restoration of the original purpose of the First Offender Act.
