Sexual offenses; modify penalty for offenders previously convicted of the offense of trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude

Repeat misdemeanor offenders face felony prison terms

Georgia law makes a fourth or later qualifying misdemeanor within ten years a felony. Qualifying offenses are misdemeanors under Georgia Code Title 16, Chapters 5 or 6, including equivalent state or federal offenses. The ten-year window runs from prior arrest dates to the current arrest date. Those arrests must lead to convictions or accepted no-contest pleas. Multiple qualifying misdemeanors occurring on the same date count as one conviction. The prison sentence is one to ten years. The first year cannot be suspended, replaced with probation, deferred, or withheld. The indictment must list prior qualifying offenses, conviction dates, and jurisdictions in a separate count. A certified copy of a prior judgment serves as initial evidence of that conviction.