Texas State Pardons & Clemency

A pardon is when a government executive forgives a certain criminal offense.
Although the offense remains on the person's criminal record, they are not subject to any further restrictions or criminal penalties that other convicts or ex-convicts may be subject to. In the case of a federal crime, a federal pardon must be granted by the President of the United States. In the case of a state crime, a state pardon must be granted by the governor, or in some states an entity such as a parole board acting on the state's behalf or in conjunction with the governor.

Pardons are a form of clemency.
Clemency is a general term for reducing the penalties for a particular crime without actually clearing your criminal record. A clemency can come in the form of a pardon, which is forgiveness of a sentence, a commutation, which is reduction of a sentence, or a reprieve, which is a temporary putting off of punishment while the situation is analyzed further. Therefore a pardon is always clemency, but when someone receives clemency, it does not necessarily mean a pardon.

A pardon is meant to indicate forgiveness of a particular crime, either because a person was wrongfully convicted or the punishment was not appropriate for the crime committed. A commutation is a merciful act offered when it is determined that the penalty given was too harsh. A common use of commutation is to reduce a death penalty verdict to life in prison. A reprieve may be given when more information is needed before it can be determined that it is appropriate for a person to serve a particular sentence. This is also often used in death penalty situations.

in all cases of clemency, pardon or otherwise, the person's conviction is not overturned or removed from the public record. In fact, some people feel that accepting a pardon is tantamount to an admission of guilt. Those seeking to remove a criminal record will need to pursue expungement or having their record sealed. When a conviction is expunged, it is as if it never happened. There is no need for any kind of clemency because the crime is deleted from the record. This is obviously the ideal situation, and it happens more commonly than one might think. For many first offenses, even felonies, expungement is a real option.

The governor has the authority to grant clemency upon the written recommendation of a majority of the Board of Pardons and Paroles (Board). Clemency includes full pardons after conviction or successful completion of a term of deferred adjudication community supervision, conditional pardons, pardons based on innocence, commutations of sentence, and reprieves. In capital cases, clemency includes a commutation of sentence to life in prison and a reprieve for execution. The governor may also grant a one-time reprieve of execution, not to exceed (30) days, without a Board recommendation.

Judicial Clemency is the power of a judge to set aside a conviction under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Judicial Clemency is available to some people who have been placed on probation, and is separate from the clemency power of the governor. Certain offenses are ineligible for Judicial Clemency, including DWI offenses, sex offender registration offenses and 42A.054 offenses. If you successfully have your conviction set aside through Judicial Clemency, your conviction will be set aside and the case dismissed. The law says that you are then released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense or crime, with certain exceptions.

Judicial Clemency is a form of post-conviction relief that does not remove anything from your criminal record, but instead changes the disposition of the case to dismissed and grants you some specific civil rights. It is important to note that you are not eligible for judicial clemency if you served a jail or prison sentence.

 

The pardon process takes a long time and clemency applications are very difficult to complete: over 75% of the applications submitted are not considered simply because the application fail to meet the Boards requirements. We can work to help restore your rights, remove a conviction, obtain a pardon or clemency, restore civil rights, obtain voting rights, and expunge records.