How to Apply for a Pardon in Texas

A pardon is the complete forgiveness of a crime that you have previously committed, which consequently, restores many or even all of the rights that were lost due to the conviction, as well as removing some of the negative stigma attached to the incident. While it does not remove the conviction from public record, the pardon also becomes a part of public record, and once you have been pardoned, you may disclose the pardon along with the conviction whenever you are required to make such a disclosure.

To apply for a pardon in Texas, you would direct your request to the governor of the state. Before doing so, however, you must meet a strict set of requirements, and go through a tedious application process. If your application is successful, almost all of your citizenship rights that you had lost will be restored, and the conviction on your record will now show that the matter has been pardoned. To review the requirements and learn how to apply for a pardon in Texas, read on:

Instructions

1. 

   Review Your Situation's Eligibility

   Before you can request the application to apply, you need to review the cases where a pardon can and cannot be granted. In order to apply for a pardon in Texas, you must:

   Be on parole, mandatory supervision, or annual report, and been under supervision for at least 12 months without any violations during those 12 months,
   AND
   Be a former Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) or Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Institutional Division (TDCJ-ID) inmate with a discharged sentence,
   AND
   Have served a probated sentence that is completed, or incomplete with extraordinary circumstance;
   Have served a suspended sentence that is completed;
   Have served a jail sentence that is completed; OR
   Have served a misdemeanor sentence that is completed.

2. 

   Review Situations Ineligible for Pardoning

   If you apply for a pardon in Texas in the following situations, in almost all cases, your pardon application will NOT be considered barring extenuating circumstance:

   Treason and/or impeachment;
   A deferred adjudication community supervision of any status;
   Early dismissal from community supervision, specifically in cased defined in Article 42.12, Section 20, of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure;

   Class C misdemeanors;

   Current TDCJ-ID inmates, except for in extraordinary circumstances;

   Any out-of-state felony convictions - these must be cleared first, prior to you trying to apply for a pardon in Texas; AND
   Federal convictions - these must be cleared first, by Presidential Pardon, prior to you trying to apply for a pardon in Texas.

   If you were denied a full pardon after applying for a pardon in Texas within the last 12 months, you cannot reapply. You must wait one full year before you can apply for a pardon in Texas again.

3. 

   Gather Documents to Support Your Application

   As part of your application, you need to request and attach documents related to your arrest, conviction, and sentencing, as well as documents to support to request for a pardon. Documents required as part of your application include:

   1. At least three letters of recommendation from individuals who know you and your situation personally; letters from family members do not count, but will be accepted as supplemental information. Letters must be addressed to "The Board of Pardons and Paroles," and contain the phrase (or something similar to it): "I recommend a full pardon of behalf of (the application's name). It must also include the name, occupation, contact information, mailing address, and be signed by the writer of the letter to be accepted when you apply for a pardon in Texas.

   2. A statement of your criminal history, which can be obtained from the local Sheriff's Department in the county where you claim residency.

   3. Certified court documentation of every arrest, including the indictment, complaint, and judgment and sentencing or dismissal information for each separate arrest. For information on how to obtain these documents to apply for a pardon in Texas, visit the link below:

   4. Offense reports for every arrest from every arresting law enforcement agency. To find these reports, contact the police department that handled your arrests. If you were arrested by more than one department, you must contact each separate department for all of the reports. For help determining where you were arrested, you can visit the website below:

   http://records.txdps.state.tx.us

4. 

   Draft Your Letter to Apply for a Pardon in Texas

   Once you have collected every document that you need to apply for a pardon in Texas, you need to draft your actual pardon letter. For step-by-step instructions on how to write a pardon letter, visit the link below:

   http://www.ehow.com/how_5034976_write-pardon-letter.html

5. 

   Prepare and Mail Your Package

   Once you have completed your letter and collected your documents, arrange them in an organized fashion. Try creating folders for each of your separate arrests with the necessary documents inside, and folders for each conviction with the court documents inside. Keep the recommendation letters directly underneath of your pardon letter, which should be at the top of your pile of documents. Then, mail the completed package to the address below to apply for a pardon in Texas:

   Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
   ATTN: EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY SECTION
   8610 Shoal Creek Boulevard
   Austin, Texas 78757

   To give you a way to track the package's location and to ensure the package's delivery, send your application via USPS Certified Mail. Certified Mail not only gives you tracking information and delivery confirmation, it also requires a signature upon arrival, and provides you with a receipt showing the name and signature of the person who signed for it. If, for any reason, the pardons office claims your application was lost when it was actually delivered. A USPS Certified Mail receipt is proof enough that the package was successfully sent and received by someone at the office.

   While you need to send in original documents to apply for a pardon in Texas, you should make two back-up copies of your entire package before mailing it in. This way, if anything is lost, you have copies to replace them. And if you need to find new originals, the copies will help you find where you obtained the originals from the first time.

   Once you have mailed your package, all that is left is to wait and see if approval for a hearing was granted. If so, be sure to bring your extra copy of every document included in your application, and be prepared to explain your position again - similar to the way you explained yourself in your pardon letter, but elaborate. It takes a little bit of work, but that's all it takes to apply for a pardon in Texas!

Tips & Warnings

• If you are trying to apply for a pardon for a federal crime, you will need to apply for a presidential pardon, not a governor's - or state - pardon.

• By applying for and accepting a pardon, you are also acknowleding your conviction was correct and accepting guilt. For those who feel the were wrongfully convicted, a pardon may not be the most desirable choice. You may want to try appealing your conviction, and exhausting all other possible options before resorting to applying for a pardon in Texas.

Resources

• Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
• Texas Arrest Records
• How to Write a Pardon Letter