Once I have applied for a pardon, what happens?

What happens next will be different, depending on how you applied for a Pardon:

    Pardon with Certificate of Rehabiliation (COR): When the judge grants your COR, he will also send a copy of your COR directly to the Governor’s Office.[3197] Once the Governor receives your COR, s/he can do any of the following:
    Grant your pardon immediately (if you have only 1 felony conviction);[3198]
    Do an investigation and review your case to decide whether to grant your pardon; OR
    Ask the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to investigate your case and make a recommendation about whether you should receive a pardon (see below under “Traditional or Direct Pardon”).[3199]
    Direct Pardon (without COR): If you applied directly to the Governor for a Traditional Pardon, the Governor will review of your case to decide whether you deserve a pardon. The Governor may ask the judge of the court where you were convicted and the DA who prosecuted you for information about your case and recommendations about whether you should get a pardon.[3200]
    In most cases, the Governor will also send your application to the Board of Parole Hearings for its recommendation about whether you deserve a pardon.[3201] The BPH may investigate your application by looking at documents and transcripts from your case, talking to witnesses, or doing anything else to evaluate your application. The BPH will then make a recommendation to the Governor about whether you should get a pardon.[3202]

REMEMBER: If you were convicted of 2 or more felonies, the Governor MUST send your application to the Board of Parole Hearings for review, AND also CANNOT grant your pardon without getting a recommendation from the California Supreme Court. (However, the Governor does not have to send your application to the Supreme Court for review in the first place.)[3203]

    BPH-Recommended Pardon: If the BPH recommends you for a pardon, it will conduct its own investigation of your case first, before making its recommendation to the Governor. If the BPH investigates your case, but decides NOT to recommend you for a pardon, it must tell you its reasons for not recommending you.[3204]
  1. 3197

    Cal. Penal Code § 4852.13(a).

  2. 3198

    Cal. Penal Code § 4852.16; Cal. Penal Code § 667(d); cf. Cal. Penal Code § 3045; cf. People v. Laino, 32 Cal. 4th 878, 895 (2004); see also How to Apply for a Pardon, State of Cal. Office of the Governor (Sept. 5, 2013), http://gov.ca.gov/docs/How_To_Apply_for_a_Pardon.pdf.

  3. 3199

    Cal. Penal Code § 4812.

  4. 3200

    Cal. Penal Code § 4803.

  5. 3201

    How to Apply for a Pardon, State of Cal. Office of the Governor (Sept. 5, 2013), http://gov.ca.gov/docs/How_To_Apply_for_a_Pardon.pdf.

  6. 3202

    Cal. Penal Code § 4812.

  7. 3203

    Cal. Penal Code § 4852.16.

  8. 3204

    15 Cal. Code Regs. § 2818.