Welfare and Unemployment Fraud in Georgia

Obtaining or trying to obtain public assistance, food stamps or Medicaid by a false statement, failure to disclose information or impersonation is a misdemeanor, and a felony punishable by 1 to 5 years when the value exceeds $1,500; amounts obtained during one uninterrupted period are treated as one offense. The person must repay any overpayment, and a prosecutor may offer a consent agreement in which the person accepts disqualification instead of prosecution. Unemployment fraud (knowingly lying or hiding a material fact to get or increase benefits) is a misdemeanor, and a felony (1 to 5 years and a fine of at least $1,000) when it involves more than $4,000 or claims in more than one benefit year.

Georgia's rule on court-appointed lawyers: Applicants must complete and sign an application and verification and are interviewed at the detention center or the public defender's office. Income standards under O.C.G.A. § 17-12-2, as stated by the public defender office: for misdemeanors, probation violations and county or municipal offenses, a person who 'earns less than 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines'; for juveniles, those 'whose parents earn less than 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines'; for felonies, 'less than 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines' — each with an exception for people with other resources that could reasonably pay for a lawyer, and no one with income above 150 percent of the federal poverty level is considered indigent. Application fee: Georgia law requires every person who applies for public defense services 'to pay the Public Defender Office a single fee of $50'; 'The court shall waive this fee if it finds that you are unable to pay the fee or that hardship will result if the fee is charged.' Attorney fees for court-appointed representation may also be imposed by the court at sentencing. O.C.G.A. §§ 15-21A-6(b), 17-12-2 (as quoted by the Chatham County Public Defender Office, Eastern Judicial Circuit)

Lawyers set their own fees, and Georgia has rules on how they may charge. See hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Georgia for fee rules, how to check a lawyer's license and free help.

Each state sets its own rules for sealing or expunging records. See Georgia expungement and record sealing rules.