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Bills Effective on July 1, 2017

Georgia Justice Project works with the state legislature and advocates for laws to reduce barriers to reentry for the 4.2 million Georgians with a criminal history. In the 2017 session, GJP assisted in the development of the following laws, which went into effect on July 1, 2017: 

  • Program and Treatment Completion Certificates – Ga. Code Ann. § 42-3-2

The Department of Community Supervision may now issue Program and Treatment Completion Certificates to people on probation, which create a presumption of due care in hiring or leasing for the certificate holder. In 2014, the certificates were made available to people coming out of prison who had completed certain programs (O.C.G.A. § 42-2-5.2), and now will be available to people on probation as well.

  • Behavioral Incentive Date for Probation Termination – Ga. Code Ann. § 17-10-1.19(a)

Allows individuals convicted of their first felony offense to have their probation terminated after three years if all conditions are met.

  • Retroactive First Offender Clarification – Ga. Code Ann. § 42-8-66

Clarifies that the retroactive first offender statute, which went into effect in 2015, applies to all eligible cases since 1968.

Stay up to date and get involved:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter in order to get policy alerts during the next session and stay up to date on GJP events. 
  • If you want to learn more about Georgia’s pending bills during the next session, their status and their chance of passing, check out the AJC’s Georgia Legislative Navigator.
  • Look up your state representatives by entering your address here. Click on their names to find their phone numbers and email addresses. If you wish to contact them, we recommend making a phone call and then sending an email to follow up. 
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