What can’t a Certificate of Rehabilitation do for me?

Certificates of Rehabilitation & Voting Rights

A COR does NOT restore your right to vote if you lost this right due to your conviction. However, you will get your voting rights back automatically once you are out of prison and OFF parole, so you do not need a COR to get your voting rights back. (For more information about voting rights, see the BUILDING BLOCKS OF REENTRY: ID & VOTING CHAPTER, on PG. 67).

Although there are many benefits to obtaining a COR, it is a limited remedy. Here are some of the things that a COR does NOT do for you:

    It does NOT erase a felony conviction or seal your criminal record;[3160]
    It does NOT prevent your conviction from being considered a “prior” if you are later convicted of a new offense;[3161]
    It will NOT necessarily eliminate your registration requirement, if you are required to register as a “sex offender” under Cal. Penal Code § 290;[3162]
    It does NOT allow you to say that you’ve never been convicted of a felony—in other words, you must still disclose your conviction on job and professional licensing applications.[3163]
  1. 3160

    Cal. Labor Code § 26; How to Apply for a Pardon, State of Cal. Office of the Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., (rev’d Sep. 5, 2015), http://gov.ca.gov/docs/How_To_Apply_for_a_Pardon.pdf; see also Cal. Penal Code § 4852.15, 11105. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 480(b). ↑

  2. 3161

    Cal. Penal Code § 290.5; How to Apply for a Pardon, State of Cal. Office of the Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., (rev’d Sep. 5, 2015), http://gov.ca.gov/docs/How_To_Apply_for_a_Pardon.pdf. ↑

  3. 3162

    Cal. Penal Code § 290.5. ↑

  4. 3163

    How to Apply for a Pardon, State of Cal. Office of the Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., (rev’d Sep. 5, 2015), http://gov.ca.gov/docs/How_To_Apply_for_a_Pardon.pdf; see also Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 480(b). Cal. Penal Code §§ 4852.15, 11105. ↑