In our last post, we discussed how individuals charged with a felony or misdemeanor in Georgia can use first offenders and parole to avoid a criminal record. In this post, we will discuss other methods of protecting one’s records, including pre-trial diversion and accountability courts.
Many counties in Georgia offer programs that can result in your case being fired or “nolle pros,” even if the evidence against you is very strong. If the evidence in a case is weak or non-existent, it is a good idea for your criminal defense attorney to press for the case to be dropped. Unfortunately, in most cases this is not a very common result. However, many prosecutors still offer layoffs in cases where you qualify for and complete a program. Always make sure you ask your attorney if you might qualify for pre-trial diversion or accountability courts.
The pre-trial diversion is generally offered to first-time offenders for minor offenses such as shoplifting, theft, disorderly conduct, simple assault, and assault. Each county handles diversion in court differently, so it’s important that you contact an attorney who is familiar with the county in which you are being charged.
Most pre-trial diversion programs require you to pay a fine, attend one or more classes, do a small amount of community service, and submit to a brief period of surveillance. At the end of the surveillance and if all the conditions are met, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss the charges against you. This means it will not go on your record as a conviction. Pre-trial diversion is also typically less onerous than parole and cannot result in a prison sentence if you fail to report or pay. The consequence of not completing the diversion before the trial is that the case will go back to normal criminal prosecution.
Many counties in Georgia have so-called accountability courts. As with pre-trial diversion, these programs take your case out of the normal court system and often result in the dismissal of your case upon completion of the program. Accountability courts include programs such as the Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court, and DUI Court. Each type of court and each county has specific entry requirements. Persons with a significant criminal record are often denied admission.
For example, the drug court requires that you are a drug addict and that the drug problem is the underlying issue behind the charges in your case. Drug court can be a great option for you if your case has strong evidence against you and you are ready to kick your addiction. Drug courts in Georgia offer various forms of treatment, counseling and drug testing to help people sober up. The drug court lasts between 18 months and 2 years and is usually available to people accused of drug offenses such as possession, theft and fraud. The drug court is not typically available for serious violent crimes or drug sales or trafficking, but requirements vary by county.
The Mental Health Court (also known as the Resource Court) is very similar to the Drugs Court, but requires that you have a professional medical diagnosis of a mental health problem, such as bipolar, schizophrenia, PTSD, or depression. In addition to helping with substance abuse, they focus on the aspects of mental health that lead to crime and provide counseling and medical treatment. As with drug court, individuals accused of serious violent crimes do not typically qualify for a mental health court. The Veterans Court deals with both mental health and substance abuse cases, but is reserved for those who have served in the US military.
While accountability courts might be a good option for you, there are consequences (called penalties) for failing drug tests, missing court dates or committing new offences. Failure to comply with program policies may result in program termination and immediate conviction for the underlying offense. Talk to your attorney about the pros and cons of accountability courts to help you decide if applying to one is right for you. Accountability courts can be demanding but often provide useful tools for those who need help with mental health or addiction recovery.
One of the biggest benefits of pre-trial diversionary and accountability courts is that they can help you keep your records clean through a discharge at the end of the program. Layoffs are most common when a customer has no criminal record. When a client has a criminal record, accountability courts often substitute jail or imprisonment but do not result in release. Just like first offenders and parole, pretrial diversion and accountability courts are additional tools that can help you keep your Georgia records clean.
In our next blog post, we’ll discuss how your attorney can ask the judge to seal your first offender file, thereby protecting your arrest and first offender status (while on parole) from the public.