The Georgia Supreme Court ruled last week that state law doesn't allow for misdemeanor probation sentences to be put on hold if a probationer stops reporting. It had been standard for years in courts that handle misdemeanor charges to issue an arrest warrant for those offenders and halt the probation sentence, a practice called "tolling."
The decision means thousands of people accused of not completing their misdemeanor probation requirements won't face arrest, and some people are being released from jail, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/1ykiM2Z).
The decision surprised judges and probation companies and has led them to search their records to find arrest warrants in cases where the original probation term had ended.
