First Offender Status and Probation Violations

Under Georgia law, if you are a first time offender, you can seek first offender treatment. This means that when you have completed the terms of your sentence (including probation ), your record is wiped clean of the conviction. This first offender treatment is really helpful if you are young and have a felony charge. Most likely, you do not want to be a convicted felon as that affects your civil rights. But what if you are on first offender treatment and you have a violation of your probation? Judges can be quick to revoke your first offender status. This can be devastating as your first offender status is valuable.

Attorneys at our firm have experience helping people defend themselves in probation violation hearings and working things out with their probation officer ( PO ). Sometimes consent orders can be entered stopping our clients from ever having to go before the judge on a probation violation. Violations stem from two main groups - new offenses and technical violations. Both can lead offenders to losing their first offender. A new offense is just that - picking up a new charge (even a ticket) while on probation. A technical violation has more to do with complying with your probation officers terms - like reporting, doing your community service, and passing screens for drugs and alcohol.