Download Is it easier to get a pardon or an expungement?

EXPUNGEMENTS AND PARDONS
WHAT IS A GOVERNOR’S PARDON?
A pardon is an official act of mercy taken by the Governor of Pennsylvania upon the
recommendation of the PA Board of Pardons. A pardon completely frees an individual from the control
of the state, exempting an individual from further punishment and relieving an individual from all the
legal disabilities resulting from a conviction.
Examples of such legal disabilities include, but are not limited to, the right to purchase or carry a
firearm, right to hold public office, right to be a juror, the right to vote, and the opportunity to obtain
certain employment.
WHAT IS AN EXPUNGEMENT?
An expungement is a court ordered administrative act of destroying or removing an individual’s
criminal history record information, such as conviction, arrest, and similar record. Once a charge is
eligible for expungement, the defendant still has to petition the court to request this remedy.
IS IT EASIER TO GET A PARDON OR AN EXPUNGEMENT?
A pardon is an extreme remedy and rarely granted. Consideration of a pardon application takes
several years. If you have a conviction that is eligible for expungement, the process is complete in less
than one year. The court may still have the ability to deny an expungement request, but expungements are
granted more readily than pardons.
WILL MY RECORD BE EXPUNGED IF I’M GRANTED A PARDON?
No, a pardon does not expunge the conviction from your criminal record. If you are granted a
pardon, however, you would become eligible to have your conviction records to be expunged.
IF CONVICTED OF AN OFFENSE, WHEN DO I BECOME ELIGIBLE TO HAVE
A CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGED?
It depends based upon the offense committed and the grading of the offense.
Underage Drinking: A person is eligible to have the conviction record expunged after he or she
turns twenty-one (21) years of age and has completed all court ordered requirements, including the
driver’s license suspension.
Other summary offense: A person is eligible to have a conviction record expunged after five (5)
years, so long as they have been free from arrest or prosecution during that time.
Misdemeanor or Felony: a person—practically speaking—will have a criminal record for his or
her entire life. A person is only eligible to have such records expunged if: (1) he or she is seventy (70)
years of age or older and has been free from arrest or prosecution for ten (10) years following final release
from confinement or supervision, (2) he or she has been dead for three years, or (3) he or she is granted a
Governor’s Pardon.
IF I RECEIVE A PARDON, AND THEN AM ASKED BY AN EMPLOYER OR
FUTURE EMPLOYER WHETHER I HAVE BEEN CONV ICTED OF A CRIME, CAN I
SAY NO?
Yes, you can say that you were never convicted of a crime. In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v.
Sutley, 378 A.2d 780, 789 (Pa. 1977), our Pennsylvania Supreme Court explained that a pardon “blots out
the very existence of his guilt, so that, in the eye of the law, he is thereafter as innocent as if he had never
committed the offense." Id.
Despite this language, it is recommended that, if you deny being convicted after receiving a
pardon, you should explain that you were not convicted as a result of the pardon.
IF I HAVE MY CONVICTION RECORDS EXPUNGED BUT AM ASKED BY AN
EMPLOYER OR FUTURE EMPLOYER WHETHER I HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF A
CRIME EVEN IF IT HAS BEEN EXPUNGED, CAN I SAY NO?
Generally, PA law permits employers to consider only misdemeanor and felony convictions that
relate to the suitability for a particular position. PA law, however, does not prohibit an employer from
asking questions beyond conviction information, such as arrest information, and information concerning
convictions of summary offenses.
Accordingly, it is recommended that you disclose an expunged conviction only if the employer
specifically asks for that information. If the employer would somehow find out about that information
but you fail to disclose it, the employer would have proof that you lied on an application and could use
the lie as a reason not to hire you.
WHEN COMPLETING AN APPLICATION, WHAT ARE IMPORTANT THINGS
TO CONSIDER?
You must be honest when completing an application but that does not mean you must provide
more information when the employer does not specifically ask for that information. Thus, it is important
to know that certain terms have certain meanings, and it is important to read the question that is asked
very carefully and only answer the question that is asked.
For instance, if you successfully completed ARD, YOP, or a similar diversionary program for an
offense, you were never convicted of that offense. Instead, the charge would have been legally
dismissed. If the question then only asks about convictions, you can answer honestly that you were never
convicted.
For another example, an employer may ask only about felony convictions. If you were convicted
of a misdemeanor and no felony, then you can answer that you were never convicted of a felony and need
not disclose the misdemeanor conviction.
Penn State Student Legal Services
248 E. Calder Way, Suite 303
State College, PA 16801
814-867-4388
Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to
providing employment opportunities to minorities, women, veterans, individuals with
disabilities, and other protected groups. Nondiscrimination:
http://guru.psu.edu/policies/AD85.html U.Ed. STA 15-40