Removal From the Sex Offender Registry

Without taking any action, a person who is placed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry will be on that list for life.  The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (the “GBI“) maintains the list, and the GBI publishes that list making it available to the public and to other state’s law enforcement agencies.

The only way to be removed from the list is to die or to file a successful petition for release from the registration requirements.  A petition is a court pleading that is filed in the county where the conviction was entered that placed the person on the Registry, and the legal requirements for that petition are found in the Georgia code at O.C.G.A. 42-1-19.  A successful petition is one where a court grants the petition and enters an order releasing you from the Registry’s requirements.

People on the Registry are often told that they must wait for ten years after they complete their entire sentence (meaning incarceration plus parole/probation time and completion of any conditions imposed) but that is NOT correct.

A person with a “Level 1” categorization from the GBI can be released immediately upon completion of parole/probation.

Other persons that can be released immediately upon completion of parole/probation are:

1)  those confined to certain medical facilities, those who are permanently disabled, and those who are seriously incapacitated;

2) those who were sentenced to a crime that was punishable as a misdemeanor after July 1, 2006 (unless it doesn’t meet criteria set in OCGA 17-10-6.2 (c)(1)(A) through (c)(1)(F)); or

3) those who were convicted of false imprisonment of a minor where it did not involve a sexual offense (or attempt to commit a sexual offense) against the minor.   (see O.C.G.A. 42-1-19(a)(4) and O.C.G.A. 42-1-12 for a definition of a “sexual offense.”)

SIMPLE, Huh? And we haven’t even gotten into the service requirements of the petition (who needs notice and how to give them notice), and what evidence can be presented to the court at the hearing.
Wheeler said if he was 100% sure the track would be hit by a bad storm, he tadalafil professional would lobby NASCAR to stop the event to help relocate fans beneath the grandstands in an orderly fashion. “NASCAR would not usually put out the yellow or red flag until it actually started raining,” Wheeler said. “I had a problem with this, because often lightning begins (before that). For all these situations you can buy deeprootsmag.org viagra without prescription online and lead to a happy intimacy. And you do not need a subscription deeprootsmag.org cheap cialis from your physician. Food allergy Acidity produces symptoms like pain in upper abdomen, burning feeling in stomach region or chest area, sour taste in mouth, feeling hungry deeprootsmag.org levitra sales online frequently, belching, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, dryness in throat, coughing etc.
Well, while it can get a bit convoluted as you read multiple statutes that set out the requirements (and we haven’t even addressed the conflict in Georgia law applying to whether the First Offender’s Act can give relief), but the seemingly simplest part of the statute is that the court is to look at the evidence and determine whether the individual poses a substantial risk of perpetrating any future “dangerous sexual offense.”  That is to say . . . it seems simple until you read the definition of “dangerous sexual offense” in O.C.G.A. 42-1-12 and realize that you have multiple subsections, and subsections within those subsections defining the term.

LET’S SIMPLIFY THE MESSAGE AT THIS POINT

Frankly, when I make blog posts that have a lot of code section references and links, I end up using these posts personally when I discuss the case with prosecutors or if I need to re-read the code sections myself.  There are many cross references in the code for release from the Registry and these are just a few of them.

The message that you should be getting is that:

1)  if you are categorized as Level 1 Offender, you can IMMEDIATELY petition the court for release from the Sex Offender Registry upon completion of your entire sentence;

2)  this is a complicated section of law that you should not attempt to do without the help of a lawyer knowledgeable in that law; and,

3) there is real hope for getting out from under the thumb of a lifetime of government supervision.

Call or email me to begin the process!