On December 20, 2024, Colorado Governor Jared Polis pardoned five of our clients here at Colorado Legal Defense Group! The governor pardoned only 22 people total.
Pardons are very difficult to get, and our legal team is thrilled for our clients. Pardons greatly increase their professional, educational, financial, housing, and social prospects.
A Governor’s pardon (clemency) in Colorado is public forgiveness for a crime after your sentence has been served. Article IV, § 7 of the Colorado State Constitution provides the governor with the “power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason, and except in case of impeachment.”1
To help you better understand how to apply for a Governor’s pardon in Colorado, our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers discuss the following:
- 1. What is a Governor’s pardon?
- 2. Why should I apply?
- 3. Am I eligible?
- 4. How do I apply for a pardon?
- 5. What happens then?
- 6. How are commutations different?
- 7. Will a pardon seal my criminal record?
- Additional Reading
Getting past convictions pardoned can increase future employment opportunities.
1. What is a Governor’s pardon?
A Colorado Governor’s pardon is a public forgiveness of your criminal past. Pardoning is an “extraordinary measure,” generally granted only if you demonstrated rehabilitation.
Under Section 7 of Article IV of the Colorado Constitution:
“The governor shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason, and except in case of impeachment, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons, but he shall in every case where he may exercise this power, send to the general assembly at its first session thereafter, a transcript of the petition, all proceedings, and the reasons for his action.”2
2. Why should I apply?
A Colorado Governor’s pardon can restore certain rights you lost due to your criminal conviction, including:
- The Second Amendment right to own or possess firearms,3
- The right to apply for a trade / occupational / professional license,
- No longer having to register as a sex offender,4 and
- The right to avoid deportation based on a criminal conviction.
A pardon also lifts various legal disabilities, such as when applying for housing. For instance, a landlord who would typically not lease to people with a criminal history may reconsider when they see that you have been forgiven by the state’s highest executive authority.
In Colorado, many state rights are returned to you after serving a criminal sentence, including the right to vote, the right to hold public office, and the right to serve on a jury. A pardon is not needed to get these rights back after completing your sentence.
Restoration of gun rights
A Colorado Governor’s pardon can restore your right to possess firearms under Colorado state law and federal law. But the pardon must explicitly say that your gun rights are restored. If you apply for a pardon, you should state in your application that you are requesting restoration of your gun rights.5
Note that some states are stricter than Colorado law and federal law, and that a Colorado pardon may be insufficient to restore gun rights in those states. If you have been pardoned in Colorado and intend to travel, you should research other states’ gun laws to learn whether you may lawfully have guns there.6
3. Am I eligible?
In Colorado, you can apply for a pardon:
- seven years after you finished your felony sentence, or
- three years after you finished your misdemeanor sentence.
A Governor’s pardon can be granted for any Colorado state crime, except for treason and in the case of impeachment. To qualify for a Governor’s pardon, you need to demonstrate:
- Good moral character prior to conviction,
- Good conduct during confinement,
- No risk to public safety,
- The statements of the sentencing judge and district attorneys, if any, and
- Any other material concerning your reformation.7
The governor of Colorado does not have the ability to pardon federal crimes, military offenses, or convictions in other states. If you are convicted of a crime in another state, you would have to go through that other state’s procedure to seek a pardon.
The governor has no obligation to grant a pardon to anyone. A pardon is not a right, and relatively few people who apply for it will be pardoned in Colorado. Governors can also take as long as they like to review pardon applications.
4. How do I apply for a pardon?
Applying for a Colorado Governor’s pardon begins by completing the “Executive Clemency Application.”8 There is no fee.
The application requires information about you, including:
- Name,
- Education level,
- Occupation,
- Military service,
- Domestic status (spouse/children),
- Need for restoration of rights, including firearm rights,
- Crime information, and
- Required supporting documentation.
Executive Clemency Applications and all required documentation must be submitted to the governor’s office at:
Office of Executive Clemency
940 Broadway
Denver, CO 80203
Supporting documentation
You must submit all necessary documentation and records along with the application. This includes:
- Personal letter to the governor stating the reasons and circumstances for requesting a pardon.
- Federal and state tax return transcripts for the last five (5) years.
- Verification of employment for the past five (5) years.
- Pay stubs for the last three (3) months from your employer.
- Five (5) letters of reference, dated and addressed to the governor.
- Reports from your community parole officer or probation officer addressing adjustment to community placement.
- Discharge documents.
- Copy of driver’s license.
- Current FBI record or arrest record.
- Completed fingerprint card.
- Any additional documents that would assist the governor in making an informed decision.9
Note that the governor receives several pardon applications, so you should make sure that your personal statement stands out by being interesting, detailed, and genuine. You should discuss how a pardon would help you move forward career-wise or would allow you to remain in the U.S. (if you are an immigrant).
You should include all of your achievements and contributions, such as:
- family life, including marriage and children (including marriage certificates and birth certificates)
- stable employment
- military awards
- transcripts from schools, such as high school and college
- certificates and diplomas from educational institutions
- law-abiding conduct (such as avoiding new arrests)
- community ties
- community service
- monetary donations
- any other positive life events and recognitions that demonstrate rehabilitation and reintegration into society
- medical records showing any serious or terminal diseases you are suffering from
You can also include recommendation letters from family, friends, employers, clergymen, co-workers, or other community members. The letters should explain why the governor should grant the pardon, and you should include the writer’s contact information so the governor’s office can verify their veracity.
If the conviction is precluding you from pursuing a certain career or job status, you should include documentation such as letters from prospective employers.
Note that a pardon is not a retrying of the past offense. The governor is interested in seeing that you have remorse and have moved forward. It is not the governor’s job to evaluate whether you were wrongfully convicted.
Pardon procedures for low-level marijuana crimes
If you were convicted in county court of possessing one ounce or less of marijuana, you should have already been automatically pardoned. Though to be sure, you should request a confirmation of the pardon by completing this online form on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation website.
If you were convicted in county court of possessing up to two ounces of marijuana (but more than one ounce), you do not need to submit a formal pardon application. Instead, you can complete this online form on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation website.10
For marijuana convictions in municipal court, you should contact the municipality for local pardon options – if any.
Federal pardons
To apply for a federal pardon following a federal conviction, read the instructions at the Department of Justice, Office of Pardon Attorney website. Download the pardon application here.
A Colorado governor’s pardon can restore your right to own a firearm.
5. What happens then?
The Colorado pardon process has to go through verification, review by the Executive Clemency Advisory Board, and finally, consideration by the governor. These are the 8 steps in the process, and it usually takes 12 to 36 months:
- After filling out the application and providing all the supporting documents, your application is processed and the information is verified.
- The Director of the Executive Clemency Advisory Board convenes a session.
- The Board – which consists of seven unpaid members appointed by the governor – reviews the clemency applications. Board members usually have backgrounds in law enforcement.
- The Board makes recommendations for pardons and forwards the recommendations to the governor. A majority of the Board (four members) must approve the pardon for it to be forwarded to the governor.
- The governor takes the application under advisement.
- When the governor decides to grant or deny a pardon, the governor notifies the Colorado legislature.
- You are notified whether the application has been granted or denied.
- If denied, there is no appeals process because this is an administrative – not judicial – process. However, you can re-apply at a later time.
Before the pardon can be approved by the governor, it gets reviewed by the district attorney where you were convicted, the judge who sentenced you, and the attorney who prosecuted you at trial. These individuals may provide comments on the application. They typically have ten days to respond.
The governor’s office can also notify the victim(s) – if any – about the pardon application and invite comment. The Department of Corrections will notify the victim if the governor grants the pardon.
Sometimes you will be called for a personal interview or hearing with the governor or Executive Clemency Advisory Board. You should dress in business attire and – if permitted – bring family, employers, and community members for support.
Past pardons
Pardons often depend on the individual governor. Certain Colorado governors have historically granted pardons more than others. Up until September 2018, Governor John Hickenlooper has pardoned 66 people in his 8 years in office.
In his 8 years as the Governor of Colorado, Bill Owens pardoned 13 people. Gov. Bill Ritter pardoned 42 individuals. In 2020, Governor Jared Polis pardoned more than 2,700 people for low-level cannabis /marijuana possession. From 2019 to 2023, Governor Polis granted 78 pardons.11
6. How are commutations different?
In Colorado, pardons and commutations are both forms of clemency that are purely administrative and do not involve the courts. Though whereas a pardon is granted after your conviction and completion of your sentence, a commutation modifies your current sentence.
In other words, a pardon is only available after your sentence is completed and is not available if you are currently spending time in prison. A commutation can terminate your sentence or shorten your sentence if you are currently incarcerated or in jail.
For more discussion, please see our article on how to apply to commute a sentence in Colorado. You need to work with your case manager to obtain the commutation application. The commutation application requires such documentation as:
- LSI Assessment (Level of Service Inventory).
- CARAS Assessment (Colorado Actuarial Risk Assessment Scale)
- ADS (Admission Data Summary).
- Current psychological/psychiatric/ mental health / medical reports. (For serious medical conditions, include documentation from clinical personnel with diagnosis, prognosis, and recommendations.)
- Reports of disciplinary actions and sanctions, with details of offenses.
- Pre-sentence investigation reports/arrest affidavits/offense reports.
- Detainer/notification requests or other similarly relevant law enforcement communications.
- Summary Commute Application/Waiver (provided by Offender Services to include time calculations).
- Any additional documentation that would assist the governor in making an informed decision.
Applications can be obtained online or by contacting Mark Noel at Executive Chambers, 136 State Capitol, Denver, CO 80203-1792. Or call (303) 866-2471.
Once your case manager submits your application, the Department of Corrections’ Office of Offender Services reviews it before passing it to the department’s executive director. The Executive Clemency Advisory Board reviews it and – if a majority agrees – passes it to the governor. As with a Governor’s pardon, the governor has the exclusive right to commute your sentence in Colorado.
Note that Colorado also has a Juvenile Clemency Advisory Board that hears clemency and commutation requests by juveniles who were tried as adults and sentenced to state prison.12
7. Will a pardon seal my criminal record?
A pardon is not an expungement or seal of your criminal record. Pardoned crimes still show up on background checks. In short, pardons “forgive but do not forget.” Furthermore, pardons are public records.
However, C.R.S. 24-72-710 permits you to request a sealing after getting pardoned.
Learn about how to seal criminal records in Colorado and how to expunge juvenile or UDD records in Colorado.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Gubernatorial Clemency Powers: Justice or Mercy – Criminal Justice.
- The Politics of Forgiveness: Reconceptualizing Clemency – Federal Sentencing Reporter.
- Defending the Politics of Clemency – Oregon Law Review.
- Pardon Me Please: Why the Power of Clemency Should Include the Governor – John Marshall Law Journal.
See our related article, Is there a petition for factual innocence in Colorado?
Legal References:
- Colorado Constitution, Article IV, § 7. 18-12-108, C.R.S. 16-22-108, C.R.S. Colorado Judicial Department – Self Help – Relief from Collateral Consequences (“Your conviction may also bring about additional consequences other than the penalties imposed by the court. For example, you may not be able to get a certain type of job or license, or you may not be eligible for certain public benefits or housing.”); see also Saja Hindi, Colorado governor to mass-pardon 2,700-plus marijuana convictions, Denver Post (October 1, 2020)(Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used an executive order, and it applied only to convictions involving up to one ounce of marijuana possession for recreational use).
- Colorado Constitution, Article IV, § 7. See also John Herrick, Polis sets up new board to help determine who deserves clemency for past convictions, Colorado Independent (October 18, 2019).
- 16-17-103(1), C.R.S. (“A pardon issued by the governor shall waive all collateral consequences associated with each conviction for which the person received a pardon unless the pardon limits the scope of the pardon regarding collateral consequences.”); see People v. Archuleta, 638 P.2d 255 (1981).
- 18-1.3-903, C.R.S. Note that some states may not honor a Colorado pardon and would still require the person to register as a sex offender in that state.
- Colorado Constitution, Article VII, § 10 (“No person while confined in any public prison shall be entitled to vote; but every such person who was a qualified elector prior to such imprisonment, and who is released therefrom by virtue of a pardon, or by virtue of having served out his full term of imprisonment, shall without further action, be invested with all the rights of citizenship, except as otherwise provided in this constitution.”). 18-1.3.401(3), C.R.S. (“Every person convicted of a felony, whether defined as such within or outside this code, shall be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the laws of this state or from practicing as an attorney in any of the courts of this state during the actual time of confinement or commitment to imprisonment or release from actual confinement on conditions of probation. Upon his or her discharge after completion of service of his or her sentence or after service under probation, the right to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit shall be restored, except as provided in section 4 of article XII of the state constitution.”)
- 8 U.S.C. §§ 921(a)(20) and (a)(33)(B)(ii).
- 16-17-102, C.R.S.
- Clemency, Colorado Department of Corrections.
- Id.
- HB 20-1424 (2020); HB 21-1090 (2020). See also Marijuana Pardons, CBI.
- Marianne Goodland, Gov. Jared Polis pardons 2,732 convictions for low-level marijuana possession, Colorado Politics (October 1, 2020) (see 16-17-102 C.R.S: “(2) The governor may grant pardons to a class of defendants who were convicted of the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana. The requirements of subsection (1) of this section do not apply to defendants who were convicted of the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana, but the governor may make any inquiry as deemed appropriate to seek any relevant information necessary from any person or agency to reach an informed decision.“); Kirk Mitchell, Gov. Bill Ritter issues 29 pardons, commutations, Denver Post (May 4, 2016); David Migoya, Sometimes it’s anybody’s guess who gets pardoned or given clemency in Colorado, Denver Post (May 30, 2021); Nic Garcia, Hickenlooper pardons 26 Coloradans for theft, drug and other convictions, Denver Post (January 25, 2019). Jesse Paul and Sandra Fish, Colorado governor pardons 21 people and reduces sentences of 7 others, including man convicted of murder, The Colorado Sun (December 22, 2023).
- See People v. Herrera (Colo. 1973) 516 P.2d 626 (1973); People v. Arellano (Colo. 1974) 524 P.2d 305. Executive Order B-009-07. See also:
CRS 16-17-101. Governor may commute sentence.
The governor is hereby fully authorized, when he deems it proper and advisable and consistent with the public interests and the rights and interests of the condemned, to commute the sentence in any case by reducing the penalty in a capital case to imprisonment for life or for a term of not less than twenty years at hard labor.CRS 16-17-102. Application – character certificate.
(1) After a conviction, all applications for commutation of sentence or pardon for crimes committed must be accompanied by a certificate of the respective superintendent of the correctional facility, showing the conduct of an applicant during the applicant’s confinement in the correctional facility, together with such evidences of former good character as the applicant is able to produce. Before the governor approves such application, it must be first submitted to the present district attorney of the district in which the applicant was convicted and to the judge who sentenced and the attorney who prosecuted at the trial of the applicant, if available, for such comment as they may deem proper concerning the merits of the application, so as to provide the governor with information upon which to base the governor’s action. The governor shall make reasonable efforts to locate the judge who sentenced and the attorney who prosecuted at the trial of the applicant and shall afford them a reasonable time, not less than fourteen days, to comment on such applications. The requirements of this section are deemed to have been met if the persons to whom the application is submitted for comment do not comment within fourteen days after their receipt of the application or within such other reasonable time in excess of fourteen days as specified by the governor, or if the sentencing judge or prosecuting attorney cannot be located, are incapacitated, or are otherwise unavailable for comment despite the good-faith efforts of the governor to obtain their comments. Good character previous to conviction, good conduct during confinement in the correctional facility, the statements of the sentencing judge and the district attorneys, if any, and any other material concerning the merits of the application must be given such weight as seems just and proper to the governor, in view of the circumstances of each particular case, with due regard for the reformation of the accused. The governor has sole discretion in evaluating said comments and in soliciting other comments the governor deems appropriate.
(2) The governor may grant pardons to a class of defendants who were convicted of the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana. The requirements of subsection (1) of this section do not apply to defendants who were convicted of the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana, but the governor may make any inquiry as deemed appropriate to seek any relevant information necessary from any person or agency to reach an informed decision.