Sec. 54-130a. (Formerly Sec. 18-26). Jurisdiction and authority to grant commutations of punishment, releases and pardons.
Sec. 54-130a. (Formerly Sec. 18-26). Jurisdiction and authority to grant commutations of punishment, releases and pardons. (a) Jurisdiction over the granting
of, and the authority to grant, commutations of punishment or releases, conditioned
or absolute, in the case of any person convicted of any offense against the state and
commutations from the penalty of death shall be vested in the Board of Pardons and
Paroles.
(b) The board shall have authority to grant pardons, conditioned, provisional or
absolute, for any offense against the state at any time after the imposition and before or
after the service of any sentence.
(c) The board may accept an application for a pardon three years after an applicant's
conviction of a misdemeanor or violation and five years after an applicant's conviction
of a felony, except that the board, upon a finding of extraordinary circumstances, may
accept an application for a pardon prior to such dates.
(d) Whenever the board grants an absolute pardon to any person, the board shall
cause notification of such pardon to be made in writing to the clerk of the court in which
such person was convicted, or the Office of the Chief Court Administrator if such person
was convicted in the Court of Common Pleas, the Circuit Court, a municipal court, or
a trial justice court.
(e) Whenever the board grants a provisional pardon to any person, the board shall
cause notification of such pardon to be made in writing to the clerk of the court in which
such person was convicted. The granting of a provisional pardon does not entitle such
person to erasure of the record of the conviction of the offense or relieve such person
from disclosing the existence of such conviction as may be required.
(f) In the case of any person convicted of a violation for which a sentence to a term
of imprisonment may be imposed, the board shall have authority to grant a pardon,
conditioned, provisional or absolute, in the same manner as in the case of any person
convicted of an offense against the state.
(1949 Rev., S. 3020; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 4; P.A. 74-163, S. 5; P.A. 76-388, S. 5, 6; 76-436, S. 10a, 595, 681; P.A. 04-234, S. 2; P.A. 06-187, S. 86; P.A. 07-57, S. 1.)
History: 1959 act extended jurisdiction in Subsec. (a) from cases of persons confined in State Prison to persons convicted
of any offense against the state; P.A. 74-163 added Subsec. (c) re notice of absolute pardon; P.A. 76-388 included circuit
court and replaced "chief clerk" of court of common pleas with "chief judge" in Subsec. (c); P.A. 76-436 replaced "chief
judge of common pleas court" with "office of the chief court administrator", effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 04-234 replaced
Board of Pardons with Board of Pardons and Paroles, effective July 1, 2004; Sec. 18-26 transferred to Sec. 54-130a in
2005; P.A. 06-187 amended Subsec. (b) to authorize board to grant "provisional" pardons, amended Subsec. (c) to provide
that the "board", rather than the "secretary of said board", shall cause notification to be made and added Subsec. (d) to
require that board cause written notification of the granting of provisional pardon to be made to clerk of the court in which
the person granted such pardon was convicted and provide that granting of provisional pardon does not entitle the person
to erasure of conviction record or relieve person from disclosing existence of conviction as may be required; P.A. 07-57
made a technical change in Subsec. (b), added new Subsec. (c) authorizing board to accept a pardon application 3 years
after a misdemeanor or violation conviction and 5 years after a felony conviction or prior to such dates if extraordinary
circumstances are found, redesignated existing Subsecs. (c) and (d) as Subsecs. (d) and (e) and added new Subsec. (f)
authorizing board to grant a pardon to a person convicted of a violation for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment
may be imposed in the same manner as a person convicted of an offense against the state.
Annotations to former section 18-26:
Cited. 124 C. 123. Cited. 145 C. 60. Cited. 152 C. 601. Cited. 206 C. 267.
Cited. 15 CA 161. Cited. 26 CA 132.
Cited. 26 CS 181. Cited. 35 CS 516.
Subsec. (a):
Board may revoke an absolute commutation prior to actual release of prisoner if factual basis for commutation proves
to be erroneous and justification for granting commutation thereby abrogated. 206 C. 267.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 208 C. 420.