Repeat Offender Commission

The Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission was formed by APF in 2015 to address the issue of Repeat Offenders, estimated by APD to be responsible for up to 40 percent of the felonies committed in the City. ROs are defined as those persons with three prior felony convictions, who have now been convicted for a fourth felony.

The Commission’s charge is to ensure that the entire legal system – police, prosecutors, judges, corrections and parole officers – has real time awareness of the criminal history of those who commit serial felonies.

The RO Commission is composed of APD’s Chief of Police, the Fulton County Sheriff, the Fulton County District Attorney, The Director of the Department of Community Supervision, and the CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation.

The RO Commission established the Repeat Offender Tracking Unit (ROTU), the daily operating arm of the Commission. The ROTU ensures judicial awareness of defendants’ prior felony convictions, tracking RO defendants from their arrests, through Court processing, trials, and incarceration.

Our goal is to ensure that judges have real time awareness of convicted felons’ recidivist history so that citizens are protected from serial felons who continually prey on the public.

The Atlanta Police Foundation and the RO Commission support Fulton County District Attorney’s Court Watch program, which enlists and trains volunteers to track criminal court proceedings. Volunteers attend and monitor bond and arraignment hearings to track whether Repeat Offender defendants are detained in jail or released on bond. Court Watch adds a level of public scrutiny designed to spark greater accountability in how the Fulton County Criminal Justice System manages recidivists.