Connecticut General Statutes Title 54. Criminal Procedure § 54-130a. Jurisdiction and authority of board to grant commutations of punishment, releases, pardons and certificates of rehabilitation

(a) Jurisdiction over the granting of, and the authority to grant, commutations of punishment or releases, conditioned or absolute, in the case of any person convicted of any offense against the state and commutations from the penalty of death shall be vested in the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

(b) The board shall have authority to grant pardons, conditioned, provisional or absolute, or certificates of rehabilitation for any offense against the state at any time after the imposition and before or after the service of any sentence.

(c) The board may accept an application for a pardon three years after an applicant's conviction of a misdemeanor or violation and five years after an applicant's conviction of a felony, except that the board, upon a finding of extraordinary circumstances, may accept an application for a pardon prior to such dates.

(d) Prior to holding a session to consider whether to grant any commutation of punishment, release or pardon in the case of any person convicted of any offense against the state, the board shall, upon written request, provide the state's attorney for the jurisdictional district in which any conviction for such offense was obtained with a copy of the convicted person's application, any materials and documentation filed in support thereof, except for any information contained in the application, materials and documentation that are confidential, privileged and nondisclosable pursuant to state or federal law, any information obtained by the board about the convicted person pursuant to section 54-130c, and shall permit such state's attorney, or such state's attorney's designee, to appear at such session for the purpose of making a statement for the record concerning whether the convicted person should be granted any such commutation of punishment, release or pardon.

(e) Whenever the board grants an absolute pardon to any person, the board shall cause notification of such pardon to be made in writing to the clerk of the court in which such person was convicted, or the Office of the Chief Court Administrator if such person was convicted in the Court of Common Pleas, the Circuit Court, a municipal court, or a trial justice court.

(f) Whenever the board grants a provisional pardon or a certificate of rehabilitation to any person, the board shall cause notification of such provisional pardon or certificate of rehabilitation to be made in writing to the clerk of the court in which such person was convicted. The granting of a provisional pardon or a certificate of rehabilitation does not entitle such person to erasure of the record of the conviction of the offense or relieve such person from disclosing the existence of such conviction as may be required.

(g) In the case of any person convicted of a violation for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment may be imposed, the board shall have authority to grant a pardon, conditioned, provisional or absolute, or a certificate of rehabilitation in the same manner as in the case of any person convicted of an offense against the state.

(h) The board shall not deny any application for a pardon, unless the board provides a statement in writing to the applicant of the factors considered when determining whether the applicant qualified for the pardon and an explanation as to which factors were not satisfied.