Posted by duijim in on May 28, 2014
Georgia Criminal History
Many people wonder how a DUI arrest will affect their public records. The answer is that as soon as you’re fingerprinted at the jail, a Georgia criminal history is created. This true whether you are arrested for a DUI, or any other charge. This seems unfair, since you have not been convicted of anything; however, they do this to keep track of people who get arrested repeatedly without being convicted of anything.
If you were to apply for a new job, or someone were to do a criminal background check on you, the check would show whether or not this is the first time you’ve been arrested, which agency arrested you, and that the arrest was for driving under the influence. Below all of that information is the final disposition of the case. This would be blank at first, indicating that the case is still pending.
The arrest stays on your record forever, and does not age off. Georgia has some of the harshest laws in the country when it comes to expunging, or removing, an arrest from your criminal history. However, in some special circumstances, it may be possible to do so.
On the other hand, nothing appears on your driving history until you are convicted, so the DUI is not on your driving history. If your case is ultimately dismissed, then the charge will never appear on your driving history. Also, if your case gets reduced to a lesser charge, then the lesser charge would appear on your driving history—but not the DUI.
Because insurance companies, and employers, cannot perform a driving history more than seven years back, people often believe that a charge ages off of your driving history after 7 years. This is not true. Police officers, prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and anyone else who can perform a complete driving history check will always be able to see anything that goes on your driving history. Even though being arrested itself does not cause anything to appear on your driving history, it is still vitally important to file a 10 Day Appeal Letter to stop any administrative suspensions that the officer may be taking against your license.
Be sure to watch my video on administrative license suspensions for more information.