If you or someone you love has a conviction in North Dakota and is looking for a pardon, this guide is written for you. North Dakota's Pardon Advisory Board meets only twice a year, in April and November, and applications must be complete and received 90 days in advance of each meeting. That two-meeting-per-year calendar is the central planning fact for every applicant: missing the submission deadline means waiting six months for the next cycle. North Dakota also enacted a record sealing law in 2019 that gives many people a more accessible alternative to a pardon for clearing their record, and a 2025 legislative amendment now allows pardoned convictions to qualify for that sealing process. Evaluate both paths before deciding which fits the situation best. 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 North Dakota offers: the forms of clemency
The Governor of North Dakota has authority under Article V, Section 7 of the North Dakota Constitution to grant clemency except in cases of treason and impeachment. The Governor may appoint a Pardon Advisory Board to assist in exercising this power. The available forms of clemency are a commutation, a conditional pardon, a full pardon, a remission of fine, and a reprieve.
A full pardon removes the punishment resulting from the conviction. North Dakota law draws an important distinction: a pardon acts to remove the punishment from a criminal conviction, but does not act to remove the fact of guilt or other circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime. The Governor may reconsider a clemency decision within 30 days of the initial decision in most circumstances, and may reconsider any time before release if the applicant is still incarcerated when the pardon is granted. This reconsideration window means that a granted pardon is not fully final until either the 30-day period expires or the person is released.
A conditional pardon is subject to terms and conditions; violation of the conditions can result in revocation in the same manner as a parole violation.
Who decides: the Governor and the Pardon Advisory Board
The Governor holds final authority on all clemency decisions; any action by the Pardon Advisory Board is not official until signed by the Governor.
The Pardon Advisory Board, governed by N.D. Cent. Code § 12-55.1-02, consists of five members: the Attorney General (a mandatory member), two members of the Parole Board, and two citizens appointed at large by the Governor. The Board is staffed by a pardon clerk at the Parole Board, which is part of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Board makes recommendations to the Governor following hearings on submitted applications.
The Board is not subject to the Administrative Agencies Practice Act, meaning some standard administrative procedure requirements do not apply to its proceedings. This gives the Board more flexibility in how it conducts hearings and evaluates applications, but it also means the formal procedural protections that apply in regular administrative proceedings are not guaranteed.
The twice-yearly meeting calendar
The Pardon Advisory Board meets twice per year, in April and in November. All applications must be complete, including all required documents, and received by the Board 90 days before each meeting. For the April meeting, the submission deadline falls in early January. For the November meeting, the deadline falls in early August.
This calendar means that the realistic planning horizon for any North Dakota pardon application is roughly six months to a year: assess eligibility, prepare the complete application package with all required attachments including certified judgment documents, determine which meeting to target, calculate the 90-day submission deadline backward from that meeting, and submit on time. Applications that miss the deadline wait for the next cycle, which may be six months away. Given the preparation time required for a complete application, starting the process at least nine months before the desired hearing is a reasonable approach.
Who is eligible and how to apply
North Dakota has no general eligibility requirements for its pardon process for people with North Dakota state offenses. Federal and tribal convictions are not eligible; the Governor can only grant pardons for North Dakota state convictions.
The Board primarily considers two categories of applicants. The first is adults in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who have no legal remedy available through the Parole Board; this category addresses situations where standard parole is not a viable path. The second is persons not in the custody or under the supervision of the DOCR, meaning people who have already completed their sentences. In both categories, the applicant must demonstrate that they have encountered a significant problem with the consequences of the conviction, such as inability to obtain or maintain licenses or certifications necessary for employment. Employment licensing is the most common type of collateral consequence the Board considers. In very limited circumstances, the Board may also consider applications from individuals who present a compelling need for relief as a result of unusual circumstances not otherwise specified in its standard policies.
The Board considers new mitigating information regarding the conviction, including the impact of substance abuse and behavioral health issues on the applicant and on the conviction, the applicant's efforts to address those issues, personal and social development and achievements, and specific problems or circumstances the applicant may be encountering due to the conviction. Under Pardon Advisory Board Directive 1A-14, need for relief was previously given paramount consideration; current practice treats it as one among several factors rather than the dominant one.
To apply, download the application form from the Pardon Advisory Board section of the DOCR website at docr.nd.gov/pardon-advisory-board. Required attachments include a copy of the criminal judgment for each conviction being addressed. The application must be complete; incomplete applications are not reviewed. The completed and complete application must be received by the Board 90 days before the target meeting date. Contact: Pardon Clerk, North Dakota Pardon Advisory Board, P.O. Box 1898, Bismarck, North Dakota 58502-1898; phone (701) 328-6651; email pardonclerk@nd.gov.
The marijuana pardon program
North Dakota established a special streamlined pardon process in 2019 for people convicted of possession of marijuana, ingestion of marijuana, and possession of marijuana paraphernalia. To qualify, the person must not have had any convictions in the past five years. This program has a separate application form available through the DOCR website, which is different from the standard pardon application. The Governor's Office estimated that approximately 175,000 people might be eligible for this program when it was announced; the Governor pardoned 16 individuals under the new program in January 2020 and the Board expected to consider additional grants. Anyone whose only conviction history involves marijuana possession-type offenses should check the current status of this program before applying through the standard process, since the marijuana program has its own form and requirements.
What a pardon does and does not do in North Dakota
Under North Dakota law, a pardon acts to remove the punishment resulting from a criminal conviction, but it does not act to remove the fact of guilt or other circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime. A pardon "forgives but does not forget" in the North Dakota framework.
Even after a pardon, a criminal history background check may continue to show the offense because the underlying conviction record is not erased. However, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation will modify the disposition of the offense in its database to reflect the pardon once it is granted, and the North Dakota Court System's public website will also reflect the pardon. For most practical purposes, this means the pardon becomes visible in official records but does not make the conviction disappear entirely from commercial background check services that may not update their databases as promptly.
Firearms rights are not automatically restored by a pardon. A pardon restores the right to possess a firearm only if the pardon document specifically states that firearms rights are restored. Anyone applying for a pardon who seeks firearms restoration should specifically request it and should understand that the Governor has discretion to grant or withhold that specific restoration. A pardoned conviction may still be used as a predicate offense or to enhance a sentence for subsequent offenses, which distinguishes North Dakota from states where a pardon more fully erases the conviction's consequences.
Voting rights in North Dakota are generally available upon completion of sentence, and North Dakota's approach to voting is unusually accessible in another respect: the state has no voter registration requirement, and eligible voters can establish residency at the polls on election day. As a practical matter, a pardon is rarely needed specifically for voting purposes in North Dakota.
Record sealing: the 2019 law and the 2025 update
North Dakota enacted HB1246 in 2019, creating Chapter 12-60.1 and providing a court-based process for sealing conviction records. Before 2019, the state had essentially no general authority to seal adult conviction records.
Under the 2019 law, people with misdemeanor convictions can petition the original criminal court for sealing after a three-year charge-free period from the date of release. People with felony convictions can petition after a five-year period, with a ten-year period for felonies involving violence or intimidation. The sentence must be completed, and all restitution must be paid.
A 2025 amendment (HB1166) added pardoned convictions to the list of eligible convictions for sealing under § 12-60.1-02(1)(c). This means that if someone receives a pardon, the pardoned conviction may now qualify for court-based sealing through the Chapter 12-60.1 process. This is a meaningful expansion of the available relief: a pardon followed by a sealing petition provides more complete relief than either process alone. The pardon forgives the conviction; the subsequent sealing limits public access to the conviction records. Together they provide both executive forgiveness and court-based record limitation.
A note on federal and tribal convictions
If the conviction is a federal conviction or a conviction from a tribal court, the Governor of North Dakota cannot help you. Federal clemency is granted by the President of the United States through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Tribal convictions are governed by tribal law.
Where this leaves you
North Dakota's pardon calendar is the first and most important practical fact: two meetings per year, 90 days in advance, with one full application package including required court documents. Miss the deadline and the next opportunity is months away. For people primarily seeking to clear their record from public view, the 2019 sealing statute may be more accessible than a pardon and does not depend on the Governor's twice-yearly calendar, and a pardon followed by a sealing petition is now available as a combined path under the 2025 amendment. For people who need the executive act of forgiveness itself, particularly for licensing barriers or other collateral consequences that a sealing order might not address, the pardon process through the Board is the route. Start by downloading the current application from docr.nd.gov/pardon-advisory-board, confirm the next submission deadline (90 days before April or November), and assemble the required documents well in advance of that date. Contact the Pardon Clerk at pardonclerk@nd.gov or (701) 328-6651 with any eligibility questions before submitting.