If you or someone you love has a conviction in Ohio and is looking for a pardon, this guide covers both the traditional pardon process and Ohio's Expedited Pardon Project. The traditional route goes through the Ohio Parole Board within the Adult Parole Authority, takes one to two years on average, and is available to anyone with an Ohio state conviction. The Expedited Pardon Project, launched by Governor DeWine in December 2019 and developed through a partnership with Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, compresses that timeline to months for people who meet specific eligibility criteria including ten crime-free years and no prohibited offense convictions. Both paths lead to the same Governor's decision, and the Governor's authority and discretion is identical in either process. Ohio's pardon carries one of the strongest statutory statements of effect in this series: under § 2967.04 it relieves the person of all disabilities arising out of the conviction. And for unconditional pardons, the Governor may also include in the pardon document a writ sealing the related records. 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 Ohio offers: the forms of clemency
The Governor of Ohio has authority under Article III, Section 11 of the Ohio Constitution to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons for all offenses except treason and impeachment. The Governor must communicate to the General Assembly at every regular session each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted, with the reasons for each.
A pardon is the remission of a penalty. It is an act of grace or forgiveness that relieves the person of some or all of the legal ramifications of lawful punishment. A pardon may be conditional or unconditional.
A commutation is the reduction of a penalty to one less severe. Commutation may be conditional or unconditional. The most common commutation requests are for reduction of a minimum sentence to make the applicant parole-eligible earlier, or for substitution of a lesser definite term. Commutation is distinct from a pardon in that it does not forgive the underlying conviction; only the sentence is modified.
A reprieve is the temporary postponement of the execution of a sentence. Reprieves are typically reserved for cases with urgent circumstances that require additional time before a sentence is carried out.
Who decides: the Governor and the Adult Parole Authority
The Governor of Ohio holds final and exclusive authority on all clemency decisions.
All applications for pardon, commutation, or reprieve must be made in writing to the Adult Parole Authority, part of the Parole and Community Services Division of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (§ 2967.07). The Ohio Parole Board is the bureau within the APA assigned to process clemency applications. Upon receipt of any application, the Parole Board is required by law to make a thorough investigation into the propriety of granting clemency, and to report in writing to the Governor with a brief statement of facts, its recommendation for or against the grant, the grounds for that recommendation, and the records relating to the case. The Parole Board's recommendation is advisory only; the Governor is not required to accept it.
For convictions involving violence or intimidation, the Governor must notify the victim, victim's representative, and victim's attorney (if any) of the application and must provide at least 30 days advance notice before issuing a decision. Victims have the right to present a written statement, and that statement is part of the record the Governor considers when making the final decision.
The Ohio Constitution requires the Governor to report each case of reprieve, commutation, or pardon granted to the General Assembly at every regular session, along with the name and crime of the convicted person, the sentence, its date, and the date of the clemency action, with the Governor's reasons. This reporting requirement makes Ohio's pardon history part of the public legislative record. There is no specific timeframe within which the Governor must issue a decision after receiving the Parole Board's recommendation.
The Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project
Governor DeWine created the Ohio Governor's Expedited Pardon Project (OGEPP) in December 2019 after finding that too many pardon requests from people who had not been rehabilitated were causing delays for those who had genuinely reformed. The project compresses the typical one-to-two-year processing timeline to months by providing qualifying applicants with one-on-one assistance through a partnership with Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law and other legal organizations.
As of February 2026, the project had received over 1,600 applications from 84 Ohio counties and 33 states. The most common reasons people apply are employment and educational opportunities, removal of stigma, restoration of rights, and ability to volunteer in their communities.
To be eligible for the expedited process, an applicant must meet all of the following: no new felony or misdemeanor convictions in the last ten years; no convictions for certain prohibited offenses including murder, attempted murder, rape, kidnapping, and domestic violence; and completion of all requirements of every sentence at least ten years before applying. Meeting these criteria does not guarantee admission; the project team retains discretion to decline applications that do not align with its mission or that it cannot adequately support due to limited resources.
Applicants who are declined from the expedited process are notified promptly and provided with information about the traditional pardon process so they can still pursue a pardon through the regular route.
The Expedited Pardon Project also hears and submits reports to the Governor just as the Parole Board does in the traditional process. The Governor retains the same authority and discretion to grant or deny. The speed difference is in the preparation and investigation process, not in the Governor's ultimate authority.
For more information, visit ohioexpeditedpardon.org.
The traditional pardon application process
For people who do not qualify for the expedited project or who prefer the traditional route, the standard process starts with a written application to the Parole Board.
To obtain the application, email a request to drc.clemency@odrc.state.oh.us. The completed application and all attachments are provided to the sentencing court and the prosecuting attorney as part of the investigation process.
Under Ohio Parole Board procedures, a person may apply for a pardon at any time; there is no statutory minimum waiting period before filing an application. However, in practice the Governor's Expedited Process requires ten crime-free years, and the traditional review process considers the length of time since completion of sentence as a relevant factor in the rehabilitation assessment. Applications submitted shortly after sentence completion are less likely to receive favorable consideration than applications from people who have demonstrated an extended record of positive conduct and community engagement since completing their sentence.
The Parole Board investigates and then either hears the case or submits a report and recommendation to the Governor. The Governor then considers the application and all recommendations before making a final decision in writing to the applicant and legal representative.
Reapplication rule: if clemency was denied by the Governor within the past two years, the Parole Board reviews any new application to determine whether it contains significant new information that was not and could have been presented in the earlier application. If the new application does not contain such new information, the Parole Board returns it to the applicant and informs the applicant of the date on which they may reapply. This rule is designed to prevent repeat submissions that add nothing substantive while also protecting applicants who genuinely have new circumstances to present.
What a pardon does in Ohio
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2967.04, a pardon by the Governor "relieves the person to whom it is granted of all disabilities arising out of the conviction or convictions from which it is granted." This is one of the most comprehensive statutory pardon effect statements in this series. Specifically, a pardon can help with employment, restore the ability to act as a juror, restore the ability to hold public office, restore the ability to legally possess a firearm, and restore the ability to volunteer in settings that restrict people with convictions.
For unconditional pardons, the Governor has authority under § 2967.04(C) to include in the pardon a writ directing that the records related to the pardoned conviction be sealed, as if the records were related to an offense that is eligible to be sealed. This writ is part of the pardon document itself and does not require a separate court petition; however, it cannot override the records that are required by law to be retained. This sealing provision does not apply to all pardoned convictions: an offense that is not eligible for sealing under Ohio's separate record sealing laws does not become eligible solely because a pardon is granted. The pardon relieves disabilities but does not automatically create sealing eligibility where none existed under the standard sealing statute.
A person who receives a pardon may also separately petition the sentencing court for sealing of records under § 2953.33, which is the court-based sealing route and operates independently of any writ the Governor may include in the pardon document.
A note on the Certificate of Qualification for Employment
Ohio also offers a Certificate of Qualification for Employment (CQE), which provides relief from certain bars on employment or occupational licensing without requiring a pardon. The CQE is a lower threshold remedy that can address specific employment and licensing barriers more quickly for those who cannot yet qualify for a pardon, or for those who want targeted professional licensing relief while still in the process of qualifying for a full pardon. The CQE does not carry the same comprehensive disability-relief effect as a pardon but is more accessible. An attorney or the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can provide more information about CQE eligibility and the application process.
A note on federal convictions
If the conviction is a federal conviction, the Governor of Ohio 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.
Where this leaves you
Ohio gives applicants two entry points: the Expedited Pardon Project for those with ten or more crime-free years since sentence completion and no prohibited offense convictions, and the traditional Adult Parole Authority process for everyone else. For people who qualify for the expedited project, it is the better starting point because of the one-on-one assistance, the faster timeline, and the infrastructure built specifically to help applicants navigate the process. Visit ohioexpeditedpardon.org to check eligibility and apply there first. For people who do not qualify for the expedited route, email drc.clemency@odrc.state.oh.us to request the traditional application. For those who primarily need to address employment or licensing barriers and may not yet qualify for a pardon, the Certificate of Qualification for Employment is worth investigating as a lower-threshold bridge. Either way, the pardon's effect under § 2967.04 is comprehensive: all disabilities arising from the conviction are relieved. And for unconditional pardons, the Governor may also direct the related records to be sealed, providing a path toward more complete relief than the pardon alone when the underlying offense is sealing-eligible.