Senate Bill 26-003

This act establishes a standardized statewide process for applying for and reviewing executive clemency, including pardons, commutations, and reprieves. Any person convicted of a crime in San Andreas is eligible for executive review, and no minimum amount of the sentence must be served before an application may be forwarded to the Governor. Clemency applications may be submitted through a simple written letter and may be handwritten, typed, or provided through an oral recording for applicants with disabilities or literacy barriers. Incarcerated applicants may submit applications through the Department of Corrections, which must verify the applicant's identity and sentence status and forward the application to the Department of Law within 10 business days.

This act establishes a Pardon Attorney within the Department of Law to conduct an independent and comprehensive review of each clemency application. The Pardon Attorney is a nonpartisan appointee serving a six-year term and is responsible for collecting and verifying relevant information, interviewing applicants and supporters, and evaluating rehabilitation and current threats to public safety under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard. The review must consider the applicant's case and criminal history, education and employment, family and community support, age at the time of the offense, coercion or trauma, accountability, institutional conduct, program completion, educational achievements, and public-safety risk. The record must also include statements from the sentencing judge and prosecuting attorney when available, along with qualifying letters of support from correctional or rehabilitation personnel.

This act requires credible claims of actual innocence or constitutional violations discovered during clemency review to be referred to the state public defender or alternate defense counsel for consideration of judicial remedies rather than resolved through the clemency process. The Governor may issue a reprieve while those proceedings are pending. For applications grounded in equity, the Pardon Attorney prepares a dossier containing the factual and legal history, mitigating and rehabilitative factors, public-safety assessment, and a recommendation. The Governor may request additional information, seek input from victims and prosecutors, and grant, partially grant, or deny clemency. The Governor's decision is final and not subject to judicial or legislative review, although an applicant who is denied may reapply after three years.

This act requires applicants to receive written notice of the final decision and requires the Department of Law to publish monthly information showing pending applications by identification number, filing date, and stage of review. The Department must also establish volunteer legal assistance or law-school clinical support for indigent applicants. The act emphasizes that clemency is an exercise of executive mercy, equity, and public interest rather than a substitute for appeal or a finding of judicial error. This act was approved May 23, 2026, and is scheduled to take effect August 18, 2026.