Moving into a new year can bring you to make a number of life changes. One of the most important things you can do is understand your Georgia criminal and driving histories. Your criminal history is a forever document, meaning that any incident on your criminal history will be there forever. You may have been told that something on your criminal history was supposed to be expunged or restricted. You may have been found not guilty and the offense should have been removed as a matter of law. Sometimes charges are never presented within the statute of limitations and your charges are deemed to be dismissed. If items that should not be on your criminal history are still on there, it could impact you finding employment, housing, student, government, and business loans, or other things where your background is an important part of the process. You need to know how to protect your criminal history and make sure it is an accurate representation of your history. For drivers, a Georgia driving history will generally show the last two or seven years of traffic violations that were reported by the court to the Department of Driver Services (DDS) depending on which history you order. A Georgia driving history through the Georgia Department of Driver Services should reflect any violations that are required to be reported to DDS if you are convicted of a crime. Georgia driving histories are important for calculating points currently on your license for potential points based drivers license suspensions as well as may be pulled by an employer for driving based jobs like over the road truck drivers, delivery drivers, and Uber/Lyft drivers. This blog will discuss the best ways to pull copies of your Georgia criminal history and Georgia driving history. If you live outside the state of Georgia, but are requesting a Georgia driving history, you may need to reach out to the Georgia Department of Driver Services or Georgia Bureau of Investigation to make your request.

How To Request A Copy of Your Georgia Criminal History (GCIC)

Your Georgia criminal history can be obtained in person from most sheriff’s offices or police departments throughout the State of Georgia. Each department may have different requirements to produce the record for you, but you will need a state issued photo identification as well as payment of a fee for production of the record. The fee is usually around $20-25, but I have seen it as low as $10 and as much as $40. Your Georgia criminal history can be produced in many different ways, but the two most common and important ways you would want to request your criminal history to be produced would be as an “E” code or a “U” code.

The “E” code is the criminal history that is normally sent to employers, landlords, and other private organizations that are requesting a copy of your background. Any items on your criminal history that should have been expunged or restricted should not be present under an “E” code criminal history. An “E” code Georgia criminal history report should allow you to verify that everything should have been removed from your criminal history is no longer there and these private organizations are not seeing anything they are not supposed to see under Georgia law. If you have requested a copy of an “E” code criminal history and you see something that should not be on there, there are steps that can be taken to verify it should be removed and then you can petition for removal of the offending record.

“U” code Georgia criminal history records are unrestricted criminal history records. This means everything that ever happened to you should be reflected on this criminal history. If something is not on this criminal history, no one, including government agencies will be able to see it on your GCIC. The “U” code is often used by law enforcement officials and prosecutors offices to see every arrest, conviction, dismissal, or other result of one of your cases. You would want to request a “U” code criminal history if you wanted to see everything. “U” code criminal histories are not helpful for record restriction purposes, but may be helpful for other reasons such as pardons and restoration of rights.

For more information regarding requests of Georgia criminal history records, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation provides frequently asked questions here.

How To Request a Copy of Your Georgia Driving History

It is much easier to request a copy of your Georgia driving history, also known as a Georgia motor vehicle report (MVR). Your Georgia driving history is managed by the Georgia Department of Drivers Services. Georgia DDS has an online portal where you can register and track your license status, driving history, suspension reports, and other things related to your ability to drive on Georgia roads. There are four ways you can request a copy of your Georgia MVR:

• Through the Georgia DDS 2 Go app on your smartphone or other app-enabled device (A 2 year MVR is available free through the app)

• Through the Internet and the Georgia Department of Driver Services online services section of their website

• In person at any Georgia DDS location

• By mail using the DDS-18 form located here.

Georgia driving history reports come in 3 and 7 year versions as well as a lifetime copy of your driving history. The cost for a 3 year MVR is $6.00. 7 year and lifetime MVRs cost $8.00. If you need a certified copy of your MVR, it can be requested and mailed directly to an address of your choosing.

For more information regarding a request of your Georgia Driving History from the Georgia Department of Driver Services, you can visit their website here.

After reading this blog, if you have further questions regarding your Georgia criminal history or driving history, please feel free to give me a call at 678-753-6431.