Licensing boards would review criminal records more individually

Professional licensing boards would review an applicant’s criminal record individually instead of automatically denying a license based on that record. This applies to professional licensing boards under Georgia’s Secretary of State, including boards that license or regulate professions, businesses, or trades. A denial or revocation based on a criminal record generally requires that the offense directly relate to the occupation. Boards must consider the offense, the applicant’s age at the time, the time that has passed, surrounding circumstances, and rehabilitation. Applicants must receive written notice of potential criminal-record problems and 30 days to correct the record or submit information about rehabilitation or mitigating circumstances. Before denying a license because of a criminal conviction, the board must provide an opportunity for a hearing. These rules apply to license applications submitted on or after July 1, 2027.

A person with a criminal record could ask certain licensing boards or insurance officials in advance whether the record is likely to disqualify the person. The process covers professional licensing boards, the accountancy board, the pest-control certification commission, and the insurance commissioner for specified insurance licenses. The petitioner must provide the criminal record or allow the agency to obtain it and may submit information about rehabilitation and the circumstances of the record. An eligibility decision binds the agency only if the person later meets all licensing requirements and the submitted record was accurate and unchanged. An adverse decision requires notice of the reasons, appeal information, and possible steps to address the problem. A hearing is required before an agency makes an adverse predetermination based on the criminal record. A petition may be filed at any time, including before required training or while the person is incarcerated; a new petition generally may be filed after one year or sooner after completing listed corrective steps.

The firefighter standards council could certify and employ a person who pleaded guilty to a felony under Georgia’s first-offender law after completing the sentence. The person must otherwise meet the firefighter qualifications and must provide requested information about the circumstances of the guilty plea. Certification and employment would remain discretionary with the council. The person must successfully complete the terms of the first-offender sentence. The provision is scheduled to apply beginning July 1, 2027.

People seeking to vacate sentences as trafficking victims would file related court papers under seal, and their required criminal-history report would need to be more recent. The filing rules apply to petitions under the specified trafficking-victim sentence-vacating law and to the related Georgia Crime Information Center background check. The background-check report must be completed no more than three business days before the petition is filed. The Georgia Crime Information Center may not charge a fee for that report. The clerk must accept the petition under seal without a separate court order, and related filings and records must remain sealed. This provision became effective July 1, 2026, according to the supplied effective-date section.