If you or someone you love has a conviction in Indiana and is looking for relief from a criminal record, this guide is written for you. Indiana has two paths worth knowing: the Governor's pardon, which is rare and difficult to obtain, and Indiana's Second Chance Law, which is a comprehensive expungement statute that restores all civil rights, including in most cases firearms, and actually seals the record. For most people in Indiana, the expungement path is more accessible, more practical, and accomplishes more than a pardon does. This guide covers both so you can choose the right one for your situation, and it is direct about which path tends to be more effective for most people in Indiana. I have been through the system myself, and most of the fear comes from not knowing how the process works. So let me walk you through it in plain language. None of this is legal advice, and every case is different, so treat this as a map and lean on a lawyer for the turns.
What Indiana offers: the forms of clemency
The Governor of Indiana has constitutional authority to grant reprieves, commutations of sentence, and pardons under Article 5, Section 17 of the Indiana Constitution. A pardon is the form most commonly sought by people who have completed their sentences and are looking for official forgiveness. A commutation of sentence reduces or modifies an active sentence for someone currently incarcerated. A reprieve temporarily delays a sentence, most relevant in capital cases.
Who decides: the Governor and the Indiana Parole Board
The Governor of Indiana holds final authority on all clemency decisions. The Indiana Parole Board, composed of five members appointed by the Governor to four-year terms (with no more than three from the same political party), acts as a Clemency Commission for the Governor. The Board reviews applications, coordinates the community investigation by parole agents, holds hearings, and makes recommendations to the Governor on whether to grant or deny. The Governor is not bound by the Board's recommendation and makes an independent decision in each case. A decision to grant a pardon is entirely within the Governor's discretion; the Board's recommendation is advisory, not binding in either direction.
Who is eligible for a pardon in Indiana
For a pardon, you must have completed your full sentence, including all periods of parole and probation, at least five years before applying. The five-year clock does not start until parole and probation have fully ended. During those five years, your record must demonstrate law-abiding conduct.
Commutation eligibility follows different rules depending on when you were sentenced. For those sentenced under Indiana's New Code (offenses after July 1977), if the sentence was more than ten years, you may apply after having served one-third of the total sentence or twenty years, whichever comes first. Those serving a life sentence are eligible after serving ten years. The Old Code rules allow a petition for clemency after serving sixty months.
Only Indiana state court convictions are eligible. Federal convictions are handled through the federal clemency process.
If denied, a person must wait at least one year before reapplying.
The pardon application process step by step
Step one: contact the Indiana Parole Board to obtain the application. The Board has a standardized clemency application form that must be used; submitting a non-standard form may result in the application being rejected. Applications must be filed with the Indiana Parole Board, not directly with the Governor's office. Contact the Board at (317) 232-5673 to request the form. There is no fee to apply.
Step two: complete and submit the application. The application requires your personal information, the details of your conviction, the reasons you are seeking a pardon, and letters of recommendation from members of your community who can attest to your rehabilitation and character. The letters should be specific about how your life has changed, not just general endorsements. Submit the completed application to the Indiana Parole Board.
Step three: community investigation. After the application is received, a parole agent conducts a community investigation. This investigation must be completed before a hearing date can be set, which means the timeline between submission and hearing depends significantly on how long the investigation takes. The investigation covers your background, living situation, employment history, community standing, the nature and circumstances of the conviction, and the letters of support you have submitted. Be prepared to be contacted by the parole agent during this process and to provide honest, consistent information.
Step four: the hearing. You must be present at the hearing; the applicant is required to appear in person. Contact the Board to make an appointment for a hearing date. At the hearing, the Board reviews the case, the community investigation, all letters of support, and hears directly from you. You will be asked questions about the conviction, the circumstances that led to it, and about your life today. Come prepared to speak clearly and specifically about how you have changed, what you have built since completing your sentence, and why you are seeking a pardon. The Board then votes on whether to recommend a pardon to the Governor.
Step five: the Governor's decision. After the hearing, the Board submits its recommendation to the Governor. The Governor reviews all materials and makes an independent decision. The applicant receives notification of the Governor's decision in writing from the Parole Board.
A candid note on Indiana's pardon grant rate
Indiana Governors have historically been very conservative with pardons. The grant rate is low across administrations, and applicants should go in understanding that a pardon is a genuine long shot in Indiana. This does not mean the process is not worth pursuing for someone with a compelling case, but it does mean that anyone who has not yet explored Indiana's expungement law should do that first, because the expungement path is both more likely to succeed and more complete in what it provides. The pardon is most meaningful as a last resort or as a supplement for conviction types that fall outside expungement eligibility.
Indiana's Second Chance Law: the more practical path for most people
In 2013, Indiana enacted one of the most comprehensive expungement statutes in the country, commonly called the Second Chance Law. Legal observers and law review commentators have described it as a "radical experiment" in second-chance policy. For the vast majority of people with Indiana convictions, the Second Chance Law is more accessible, more certain in outcome for eligible applicants, and more powerful in effect than a Governor's pardon.
Under the Second Chance Law, a successful expungement in Indiana restores all core civil rights under Indiana Code Section 35-38-9-10(c): the right to vote, the right to hold public office, the right to serve on a jury, and in most cases the right to possess a firearm. Indiana's Attorney General has formally confirmed that Indiana's expungement statute is sufficient to restore both state and federal firearms rights for most convictions, because it fully removes civil disabilities and firearm restrictions under state law, which under federal law (18 USC 921(a)(20)) removes the federal firearms prohibition as well. The United States Department of Justice and the ATF have agreed with this interpretation. The one major exception is domestic violence convictions, which carry specific firearms restrictions under both state and federal law that expungement does not fully lift; for those situations, a separate petition under Indiana Code Section 35-47-4-7 is required after a five-year waiting period from the conviction date.
Waiting periods for expungement are tiered by offense type, measured from the date of conviction. For arrests and most misdemeanors, the waiting period is relatively short. For most felony convictions, including Level 6 and Class D felonies, five years must pass from the conviction date. More serious felonies generally have a ten-year waiting period. For the most serious felonies, expungement is discretionary rather than mandatory, and while the record is marked "expunged," it is not fully sealed from the public in the same way as lower-level offense expungements. Indiana law generally requires that all eligible convictions in a county be addressed in a single expungement petition, and you may petition in different counties for convictions in different jurisdictions. There are small filing fees associated with expungement petitions for convictions, generally around $162 per county.
A successful expungement in Indiana actually seals the record for most offense types, meaning the conviction is not visible on most background checks. Employers and licensing boards in Indiana are restricted in their ability to inquire about expunged convictions, and you may lawfully answer that you have not been convicted of the expunged offense in many contexts. This is a substantially more complete remedy than a pardon, which does not expunge the record at all. A pardon in Indiana leaves the conviction on your record and merely adds the notation of official forgiveness.
Pardon versus expungement: which path is right for you
If your conviction is eligible for expungement under Indiana's Second Chance Law, that path is generally the better choice. It is more accessible, more certain, and accomplishes more: record clearance, rights restoration, and in most cases firearms restoration. The expungement process goes through the courts, not the Governor.
A pardon becomes the right choice in situations where expungement is not available. Some of the most serious felonies are ineligible for expungement under Indiana law, and a pardon remains the only clemency path for those conviction types. A pardon also carries a different symbolic weight as a formal act of executive forgiveness, which in some professional licensing contexts may carry meaning that an expungement alone does not. But for the majority of people with Indiana convictions, the expungement law provides a better-defined process, a more predictable outcome, and a more complete practical benefit. Consulting an Indiana attorney who handles both expungement and clemency matters is the most direct way to determine which path fits your specific situation and which you are eligible for.
A note on federal convictions
If the conviction is a federal conviction rather than an Indiana state conviction, the Indiana Governor and the Indiana Parole Board cannot help you. Federal clemency is granted by the President of the United States, and applications go through the Office of the Pardon Attorney within the United States Department of Justice. The federal and state processes are entirely separate.
Where this leaves you
Indiana has a pardon process that works on paper but is used sparingly in practice. The five-year post-sentence waiting period is the minimum threshold, the community investigation and personal hearing add meaningful steps, and the Governor's historic reluctance to grant pardons means the bar is high. Before investing time in the pardon process, any Indiana resident with a conviction should evaluate whether the Second Chance Law's expungement path applies to their case, because it provides a more reliable, more complete form of relief for the people it covers. If you have ruled out expungement or your conviction falls outside its reach, the pardon remains a real option worth pursuing with a strong application, demonstrated rehabilitation, solid community support, and the patience the process requires. The five-year waiting period, the community investigation, the mandatory personal hearing, and the Governor's conservative grant history all make this a demanding process. But for people whose convictions are not reachable by Indiana's expungement law, a well-prepared pardon application is the path available, and it is worth taking seriously.