The Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, acting on the direction of the district attorney, refused James Michael Grimes’s request to expunge his criminal record. Grimes appealed the Sheriff’s Office’s decision to the Superior Court of Catoosa County. The trial court dismissed Grimes’s appeal on the ground that Grimes had been indicted and was therefore not entitled to have his records expunged. We granted Grimes’s application for leave to appeal the trial court’s order. Grimes claims that the trial court erred i in dismissing his appeal on the ground that he had been indicted and ii in denying him a de novo hearing thereon. We agree with Grimes that he had the right to seek expungement of his records notwithstanding the fact that he was indicted before the charge against him was nolle prossed. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with direction. Grimes’s appeal to the superior court was pursuant to OCGA § 35-3-37 d 6. Appeals thereunder are as provided in OCGA § 50-13-19, which addresses judicial review of administrative decisions. “When this Court reviews a superior court’s order in an administrative proceeding, our duty is not to review whether the record supports the superior court’s decision but whether the record supports the final decision of the administrative agency.” Lamar Co., LLC v. Whiteway Neon-Ad , 303 Ga. App. 495, 498 693 SE2d 848 2010. Our review as to conclusions of law, which are at issue here, is de novo. Id.
The record shows that Grimes submitted a request to the Sheriff’s Office seeking expungement of his record in Criminal Action No. 2005 CR 289.1 The charges in that action had been ordered nolle prossed. The Sheriff’s Office declined to expunge Grimes’s records and informed him that his request had been denied by the district attorney. Pursuant to OCGA § 35-3-37 d 6, Grimes appealed the Sheriff’s Office’s decision to the Superior Court of Catoosa County. The matter came before the trial court for a hearing, at which time the district attorney’s office moved for dismissal of Grimes’s appeal on the ground that an indictment had been issued and Grimes was therefore barred from having his records expunged. The trial court adjourned the hearing to take the motion under advisement and, upon determining that Grimes “was indicted and as such is not entitled to have his records expunged,” subsequently dismissed the appeal.
