If you or someone you love has a conviction in Iowa and is looking for clemency, this guide is written for you. Iowa's system has some important changes in recent years that reshape what a pardon is actually needed for. In 2020, Governor Reynolds issued an executive order that automatically restored voting rights for most people with felony convictions upon completion of their sentence, which means the most common reason people historically sought clemency in Iowa no longer requires a formal application for most convictions. What remains important is the firearms restoration process and the full pardon for those who need it. 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 Iowa offers: the forms of clemency
The Governor of Iowa has constitutional authority under Article IV, Section 16 of the Iowa Constitution and Iowa Code Chapter 914 to grant reprieves, commutations, pardons, and remissions of fines and forfeitures, and to restore the rights of citizenship, except in cases of treason or impeachment. Iowa uses a joint application form for pardons and restoration of firearm rights, and the Board of Parole processes applications and makes non-binding recommendations to the Governor.
Iowa provides four distinct forms of clemency. First, restoration of citizenship restores the rights to vote and hold public office. Because of Executive Order 7, this is now automatically handled for most people upon discharge of sentence and no longer requires a formal application through the Board in most cases. Second, special restoration of citizenship restores the right to possess firearms for people convicted of a non-forcible felony in Iowa. This is available five years after completion of sentence. Third, a full and unconditional pardon restores all rights lost due to the conviction, including voting, holding public office, and firearms. The Governor's policy is to require at least ten years to have passed since discharge of sentence before granting a pardon. Fourth, a commutation of sentence reduces or lessens an original sentence and is available to incarcerated people; a person sentenced to life may apply no more frequently than once every ten years.
Voting rights and Executive Order 7
The single biggest change to Iowa's clemency landscape in decades came on August 5, 2020, when Governor Kim Reynolds issued Executive Order 7. That order automatically restores the right to vote and hold public office to any person who has discharged their felony sentence, meaning completed all terms of incarceration, parole, probation, and any special sentence, with one significant exception: people convicted under Chapter 707 of the Iowa Code, which covers Homicide and Related Crimes, are excluded from Executive Order 7 and must still apply for restoration of citizenship through the clemency process.
The Executive Order applies to felony convictions in any jurisdiction, including federal court and the courts of other states, to the extent the conviction resulted in a loss of citizenship rights in Iowa. Executive Order 7 serves as evidence of restoration of citizenship rights and voting rights, separate from any formal application process. Until Governor Reynolds issued this order, Iowa had been the only state in the country that permanently disenfranchised citizens with felony convictions without providing any automatic restoration mechanism on sentence completion. Prior governors had oscillated on this issue for years, with Governor Vilsack restoring rights automatically in 2005 and Governor Branstad reversing that policy in 2011, leaving Iowa as an outlier for nearly a decade until Governor Reynolds acted in 2020.
Executive Order 7 does NOT restore firearms rights. Anyone seeking to restore the right to possess a firearm must apply separately through the Board of Parole regardless of whether voting rights have already been restored.
Who decides: the Governor and the Iowa Board of Parole
The Governor of Iowa holds final clemency authority. The Iowa Board of Parole, consisting of five members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to four-year terms, reviews all clemency applications and makes non-binding recommendations to the Governor. The Governor is not bound to follow those recommendations.
Restoration of citizenship (voting/office) applications are submitted to the Governor's Office directly, not the Board of Parole. All other clemency applications, including pardons and firearms restoration requests, are submitted to the Iowa Board of Parole, which then processes them and forwards the matter with a recommendation to the Governor.
The Governor uses a joint Application for Pardon and/or Restoration of Firearm Rights that covers both the full pardon and the special firearms restoration paths. Every two years, the Governor must report to the Iowa legislature on pardons issued and the reasons for each. This accountability requirement is written into the Iowa Constitution and is separate from routine annual reporting.
Who is eligible for each form of clemency
For a full pardon, Iowa's Governor requires at least ten years to have passed from the date you discharged your full sentence, including all incarceration, parole, and probation. Applications may technically be submitted at any time, but the ten-year threshold reflects the Governor's general policy on when pardons will be seriously considered.
For special restoration of citizenship (firearms rights for a non-forcible felony), the Governor's policy requires at least five years to have passed since sentence completion.
For restoration of citizenship for Homicide-related convictions (Chapter 707), a formal application is required to the Governor's Office or through the Board of Parole, since Executive Order 7 specifically excludes this category.
The pardon power in Iowa includes the authority to restore civil rights, including voting rights and the right to hold public office, for someone with a federal or out-of-state conviction who resides in Iowa. This is an important exception: Iowa's clemency extends beyond Iowa state convictions for the purpose of restoring citizenship rights, even though special restoration of firearms rights applies only to Iowa state non-forcible felony convictions.
The application process step by step
Step one: determine which type of clemency you need. If you were discharged after August 5, 2020, and your conviction was not a homicide offense under Chapter 707, your voting rights were already restored automatically by Executive Order 7 without any application required. If you only need to confirm this restoration, the Governor's website at governor.iowa.gov provides information on how EO7 applies and what documentation is available. If you need firearms rights restored, the special restoration path (5-year wait for non-forcible felony) is typically faster than waiting for a full pardon (10-year wait). If you want the formal statement of forgiveness that a full pardon provides, or if you were convicted of a homicide-related offense, a full pardon is the appropriate path.
Step two: obtain the application. For pardons and firearms restoration applications, contact the Iowa Board of Parole, Executive Clemency Coordinator, at (515) 725-5758 or (515) 725-5717. The Board is located at 510 East 12th Street, Suite 3, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. For restoration of citizenship (voting and office), contact the Governor's Office at (515) 281-5211.
Step three: complete and submit the application. The Governor uses a joint Application for Pardon and/or Restoration of Firearm Rights. The application will require information about your conviction, your discharge from sentence, your current circumstances, a personal statement addressed to the Governor, and letters of recommendation. Submit the completed application to the Iowa Board of Parole.
Step four: investigation by DCI. After receiving the application, the Board may forward it to the Division of Criminal Investigation for a full review. The DCI examines criminal and traffic history as well as credit history. This investigation is a meaningful part of the review and contributes substantially to the processing timeline. From application submission to a final decision, the process takes approximately two years in most cases. Keeping your record clean, staying current on any financial obligations, and maintaining stable employment and housing during this period all matter, because the DCI review captures a current snapshot of your life.
Step five: Board recommendation and Governor's decision. After the investigation, the Board of Parole reviews the materials and submits a non-binding recommendation to the Governor. The Governor then reviews the complete file and makes a final decision. The Governor is not required to follow the Board's recommendation in either direction. Applicants are notified of the decision in writing by the Board.
What a pardon does and does not do in Iowa
A full pardon in Iowa restores all rights lost due to the conviction, including the right to vote, the right to hold public office, and the right to possess a firearm. The Governor's own description is direct: a pardon forgives an individual for a crime committed and restores the person's lost rights. A pardon is placed on the criminal background sheet as a notation, and relieves the individual from any further punishment imposed by reason of the conviction.
A pardon does not erase or expunge the record of conviction. The underlying conviction remains on your criminal record and will appear on background checks. A pardon adds a notation of the forgiveness to that record but does not clear the record itself. If record clearing is the goal, Iowa's options are limited. Iowa enacted its first general authority to expunge conviction records in 2019, but that law applies only to a single misdemeanor conviction after at least eight years have passed. For felony convictions, there is no general expungement mechanism in Iowa, which means a pardon in Iowa is primarily about the restoration of rights and the formal executive recognition of rehabilitation, not about wiping the record clean in the way a Connecticut absolute pardon would.
A note on federal convictions and out-of-state convictions
The Governor of Iowa has the authority to restore civil rights, including voting rights and the right to hold public office, to someone with a federal or out-of-state conviction who resides in Iowa. However, special restoration of firearms rights, which requires the underlying offense to be a non-forcible Iowa state felony, is not available for federal or out-of-state convictions. For federal firearms disabilities specifically, a Presidential Pardon or a Relief of Disability from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is required.
Where this leaves you
Iowa's clemency picture has shifted significantly since 2020, and it looks very different depending on when you were convicted, what offense it was, and what rights you are trying to restore. For most people who completed their sentences after August 2020, voting rights are already restored automatically through Executive Order 7, without any application. For firearms, the five-year special restoration path is faster and more commonly available for non-forcible felony convictions than the ten-year full pardon. For those with homicide-related convictions, the formal clemency process remains the only path to voting rights, and the Governor's ten-year threshold for full pardons is the standard to plan around. The approximately two-year processing time from application to decision means that if you are approaching the ten-year mark since discharge, it makes sense to begin gathering materials and thinking through the personal statement and letters of recommendation well in advance. The Board processes about twice as many firearms restoration requests as pardon requests each year, and roughly half of firearms restoration applicants receive a favorable recommendation, making it an achievable goal for people with strong records of rehabilitation since their conviction.