diff --git a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/checkpointer.go b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
index 1af66ba..3f5d179 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/checkpointer.go
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ type Checkpointer interface {
 	// RemoveLeaseOwner to remove lease owner for the shard entry to make the shard available for reassignment
 	RemoveLeaseOwner(string) error
 
+	// GetLeaseOwner to get current owner of lease for shard
+	GetLeaseOwner(string) (string, error)
+
 	// ListActiveWorkers returns active workers and their shards (New Lease Stealing Methods)
 	ListActiveWorkers(map[string]*par.ShardStatus) (map[string][]*par.ShardStatus, error)
 
diff --git a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
index b8f12d8..ee14fee 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/checkpoint/dynamodb-checkpointer.go
@@ -51,6 +51,10 @@ const (
 	NumMaxRetries = 10
 )
 
+var (
+	NoLeaseOwnerErr = errors.New("no LeaseOwner in checkpoints table")
+)
+
 // DynamoCheckpoint implements the Checkpoint interface using DynamoDB as a backend
 type DynamoCheckpoint struct {
 	log                     logger.Logger
@@ -336,6 +340,23 @@ func (checkpointer *DynamoCheckpoint) RemoveLeaseOwner(shardID string) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+// GetLeaseOwner returns current lease owner of given shard in checkpoints table
+func (checkpointer *DynamoCheckpoint) GetLeaseOwner(shardID string) (string, error) {
+	currentCheckpoint, err := checkpointer.getItem(shardID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	assignedVar, assignedToOk := currentCheckpoint[LeaseOwnerKey]
+
+	if !assignedToOk {
+		return "", NoLeaseOwnerErr
+	}
+
+	return assignedVar.(*types.AttributeValueMemberS).Value, nil
+
+}
+
 // ListActiveWorkers returns a map of workers and their shards
 func (checkpointer *DynamoCheckpoint) ListActiveWorkers(shardStatus map[string]*par.ShardStatus) (map[string][]*par.ShardStatus, error) {
 	err := checkpointer.syncLeases(shardStatus)
diff --git a/clientlibrary/interfaces/record-processor.go b/clientlibrary/interfaces/record-processor.go
index 1c41d56..a4897d4 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/interfaces/record-processor.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/interfaces/record-processor.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ type (
 		 * @param processRecordsInput Provides the records to be processed as well as information and capabilities related
 		 *        to them (eg checkpointing).
 		 */
-		ProcessRecords(processRecordsInput *ProcessRecordsInput)
+		ProcessRecords(processRecordsInput *ProcessRecordsInput) error
 
 		// Shutdown
 		/*
diff --git a/clientlibrary/worker/common-shard-consumer.go b/clientlibrary/worker/common-shard-consumer.go
index 68ec1b3..36ddb77 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/worker/common-shard-consumer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/worker/common-shard-consumer.go
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func (sc *commonShardConsumer) waitOnParentShard() error {
 	}
 }
 
-func (sc *commonShardConsumer) processRecords(getRecordsStartTime time.Time, records []types.Record, millisBehindLatest *int64, recordCheckpointer kcl.IRecordProcessorCheckpointer) {
+func (sc *commonShardConsumer) processRecords(getRecordsStartTime time.Time, records []types.Record, millisBehindLatest *int64, recordCheckpointer kcl.IRecordProcessorCheckpointer) error {
 	log := sc.kclConfig.Logger
 
 	getRecordsTime := time.Since(getRecordsStartTime).Milliseconds()
@@ -172,7 +172,10 @@ func (sc *commonShardConsumer) processRecords(getRecordsStartTime time.Time, rec
 		// Delivery the events to the record processor
 		input.CacheEntryTime = &getRecordsStartTime
 		input.CacheExitTime = &processRecordsStartTime
-		sc.recordProcessor.ProcessRecords(input)
+		err := sc.recordProcessor.ProcessRecords(input)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
 		processedRecordsTiming := time.Since(processRecordsStartTime).Milliseconds()
 		sc.mService.RecordProcessRecordsTime(sc.shard.ID, float64(processedRecordsTiming))
@@ -181,4 +184,5 @@ func (sc *commonShardConsumer) processRecords(getRecordsStartTime time.Time, rec
 	sc.mService.IncrRecordsProcessed(sc.shard.ID, recordLength)
 	sc.mService.IncrBytesProcessed(sc.shard.ID, recordBytes)
 	sc.mService.MillisBehindLatest(sc.shard.ID, float64(*millisBehindLatest))
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/clientlibrary/worker/polling-shard-consumer.go b/clientlibrary/worker/polling-shard-consumer.go
index e0998ec..7211842 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/worker/polling-shard-consumer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/worker/polling-shard-consumer.go
@@ -214,7 +214,10 @@ func (sc *PollingShardConsumer) getRecords() error {
 		// reset the retry count after success
 		retriedErrors = 0
 
-		sc.processRecords(getRecordsStartTime, getResp.Records, getResp.MillisBehindLatest, recordCheckpointer)
+		err = sc.processRecords(getRecordsStartTime, getResp.Records, getResp.MillisBehindLatest, recordCheckpointer)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
 		// The shard has been closed, so no new records can be read from it
 		if getResp.NextShardIterator == nil {
diff --git a/clientlibrary/worker/record-processor-checkpointer.go b/clientlibrary/worker/record-processor-checkpointer.go
index 5544a86..101137f 100644
--- a/clientlibrary/worker/record-processor-checkpointer.go
+++ b/clientlibrary/worker/record-processor-checkpointer.go
@@ -21,11 +21,17 @@
 package worker
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/aws"
-
 	chk "github.com/vmware/vmware-go-kcl-v2/clientlibrary/checkpoint"
 	kcl "github.com/vmware/vmware-go-kcl-v2/clientlibrary/interfaces"
 	par "github.com/vmware/vmware-go-kcl-v2/clientlibrary/partition"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var (
+	ShutdownError     = errors.New("another instance may have started processing some of these records already")
+	LeaseExpiredError = errors.New("the lease has on the shard has expired")
 )
 
 type (
@@ -69,6 +75,17 @@ func (pc *PreparedCheckpointer) Checkpoint() error {
 }
 
 func (rc *RecordProcessorCheckpointer) Checkpoint(sequenceNumber *string) error {
+	// return shutdown error if lease is expired or another worker has started processing records for this shard
+	currLeaseOwner, err := rc.checkpoint.GetLeaseOwner(rc.shard.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if rc.shard.AssignedTo != currLeaseOwner {
+		return ShutdownError
+	}
+	if time.Now().After(rc.shard.LeaseTimeout) {
+		return LeaseExpiredError
+	}
 	// checkpoint the last sequence of a closed shard
 	if sequenceNumber == nil {
 		rc.shard.SetCheckpoint(chk.ShardEnd)