Expunging Juvenile Adjudication Records in Georgia

Georgia law allows for individuals who had photograph and fingerprint records filed as juveniles to have those records expunged under any of the following circumstances:

1. A petition alleging delinquency was not filed,
2. The proceedings were dismissed after either a petition alleging delinquency was filed or after the case was transferred to juvenile court, or
3. The juvenile was adjudicated not to be a delinquent.

For juvenile records, only the person who is the actual subject of the records is eligible to apply for expungement. No one else may apply for you. Additionally, there are certain jurisdictions within Georgia where a juvenile criminal history record will automatically be expunged once you reach 17 or 18 years old. Make sure to check with the court clerk in the county in which you were arrested as a juvenile to find out its specific rules.

If your county does not automatically expunge juvenile records, then the process for expunging juvenile records is identical to the process provided for adults, and you should follow those procedures.

For information on the process for filing a Request for Expungement in Georgia, see our article Process for Expunging Adult Criminal Records in Georgia. The Georgia Request for Expungement form (officially called the Request to Expunge Arrest Record form) can be found here.

The success of your Georgia expungement request will depend in large part on the precision with which you follow its instructions and procedures. . If you have additional questions, or would like to have an attorney walk you through the steps, then you should speak to an experienced Georgia criminal lawyer today.

Remember, if you completed probation or paid a fine for your offense, then you are ineligible for expungement of your juvenile arrest record. You can only have your juvenile arrest record expunged if your petition for delinquency was dropped, dismissed by the court, or your case was adjudicated and you were acquitted.

For more information on Georgia criminal history record expungements, see the following articles:

• Overview of Georgia Criminal History Record Expungement
• Expunging/Sealing Adult Criminal Records in Georgia ‘ Eligibility
• Process for Expunging Adult Criminal Records in Georgia
• Do I Need an Attorney to Expunge My Criminal Record in Georgia?