The California pardon list is published once a year as the Governor’s Executive Report on Pardons, Commutations of Sentence, and Reprieves. It is posted on the Governor’s official website and submitted to the state legislature, and it covers every clemency decision from the prior calendar year.1Office of the Governor of California. Executive Report on Pardons, Commutations of Sentence, and Reprieves California does not maintain a searchable public database of pardons, so the annual report is the list.
Where to Find the Report
The most recent report sits on the Governor’s site. Older reports, going back more than a decade, are archived through the California Agency Reports portal under Government Code section 12017.2California Agency Reports. Report Section 12017 of the Government Code Anyone can read either version. There is no application, no records request, and no fee.
Because there is no unified database, tracking a specific individual means pulling the report for the year the pardon was granted. If you don’t know the year, you may need to work through several reports.
What Each Entry Contains
The annual report is not a bare list of names. Each entry summarizes the original offense, the conviction details, and the Governor’s reasoning for granting or denying the petition. That means anyone reading the report, including employers and the press, sees the underlying facts of the case alongside the clemency decision. This is worth knowing before applying: some of what goes into a pardon petition ends up in a document that is public and permanent.
What Inclusion on the List Means
A full and unconditional Governor’s pardon is a formal recognition that the person has been rehabilitated, and it restores civil and political rights that a felony conviction had stripped away.3California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Investigations – Board of Parole Hearings The rights restored include:
- Serving on a California jury, with the felony-based disqualification removed.
- Holding state public office.
- Applying for state-regulated professional licenses, including in healthcare and real estate, without the automatic felony bar.
- Owning and possessing firearms under California state law. Federal firearm restrictions may still apply on their own, so a state pardon is not a guarantee of legal firearm possession in every situation.
- Relief from the duty to register as a sex offender under California law, for certain registerable offenses.
For non-citizens, a full and unconditional state pardon can also eliminate the conviction as a ground for removal or as a bar to naturalization, depending on the offense and how federal immigration authorities classify it. Not every pardon eliminates every immigration consequence.
What the List Does Not Mean
A pardon is not an expungement. The criminal record still exists, and the conviction still appears on background checks. The pardon notation shows up alongside the conviction rather than replacing it. Expungement under Penal Code section 1203.4 is a separate remedy with its own eligibility rules.
Private employers and landlords are not required to treat a pardoned conviction as if it never happened. The list demonstrates official recognition of rehabilitation, but its practical effect in the private market varies by industry and offense.
Military enlistment is another limit. A state pardon does not remove the disclosure requirement for the underlying offense, and a moral conduct waiver is still typically needed. Federal background checks through the FBI may retain the conviction regardless of California’s records.
One more boundary: the Governor can only pardon convictions under California state law. Federal convictions and convictions from other states are not on this list and never will be, because they require clemency from those respective authorities.4Stanislaus County Superior Court. Certificate of Rehabilitation and Pardon Instruction Packet
How People End Up on the List
California uses two routes to a Governor’s pardon, and each requires that the applicant has finished the full sentence, including parole or probation, and lived crime-free for a significant period afterward.
Certificate of Rehabilitation
This is the standard path for California residents with a felony conviction. The petition goes to the Superior Court in the county where the applicant lives, and it requires at least five continuous years of California residency immediately before filing.5Judicial Branch of California. Certificate of Rehabilitation California Penal Code section 4852.03 layers on an additional waiting period tied to the seriousness of the offense, producing a total rehabilitation period that ranges from about seven years for less serious felonies to longer stretches for more severe ones.
A granted Certificate of Rehabilitation is a court order declaring the person rehabilitated, and it is automatically forwarded to the Governor’s office as a formal pardon application.6California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Petition for Certificate of Rehabilitation and Pardon No separate pardon form is required.
Direct Pardon
A Direct Pardon is required for applicants who live outside California, whose conviction was a misdemeanor, or whose conviction falls into a category excluded from the Certificate of Rehabilitation process. Those excluded offenses include forcible sodomy, lewd acts with a child under 14, continuous sexual abuse of a child, forcible oral copulation, and forcible sexual penetration.7Shasta County, CA. Shasta County Public Defender – Eligibility Applicants in those categories must show extraordinary circumstances. The Direct Pardon application goes straight to the Governor’s office rather than through a court.
Investigation and Final Decision
Every application, whether forwarded from a court or filed directly, is investigated by the Board of Parole Hearings.8California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Board of Parole Hearings Investigators pull criminal history, court files, police reports, and prison records, and may contact the original prosecutor, sentencing judge, and law enforcement agencies for input.3California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Investigations – Board of Parole Hearings For Direct Pardon applications, the full Board sends its own recommendation to the Governor.
One constitutional limit shapes who reaches the list. If an applicant has two or more felony convictions, the California Constitution bars the Governor from issuing a pardon without a favorable recommendation from the California Supreme Court. That step can add significant time. The Governor makes the final call in every case, weighing the Board’s recommendation, victim impact, and public safety, and the process routinely stretches over several years from filing to decision.