People who have been arrested, but not convicted, for misdemeanors in Athens have a chance to limit who can have access to those records, if they meet certain qualifications. The Athens-Clarke County government is holding its first Misdemeanor Arrest Record Restriction Event Saturday, October 20 at the Athens Library. Solicitor General J. R. Chisholm explains the process.
“Law enforcement or criminal justice agencies will still be able to run your history and see that the charge was there but it will show up as the charge now being restricted to public access,” according to Chisholm. “Employers, generally speaking, do not see what we see in the criminal justice community,”
Chisholm says restriction, which has replaced the term expunged, means potential landlords would also be excluded from seeing the records.
“The word expungement tends to reflect that your criminal record has been completely wiped clean, that there’s absolutely nothing there for anybody to see and that’s not what expungement did.”
He says the event is free, and the $75 fee is being waived. Attendees must bring valid identification.
The process is limited to 50 people, and those wanting to attend need to register by October 7 at www.accgov.com/restrictrecord.