The bill formalizes and establishes details concerning the process
for an incarcerated individual (applicant) to apply for a commutation of sentence. The process includes requiring the executive clemency representative to gather information from the district attorney who prosecuted the applicant's case and creating a list of factors that the governor and executive clemency board may consider when evaluating the application and deciding whether the applicant's sentence should be commuted. The governor retains the ultimate decision-making authority whether to commute a sentence.
The bill permits the governor to grant pardons to a class of
defendants who were convicted of the possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana without complying with the commutation process.
The bill requires the governor's office to keep statistics on
applications for commutation of sentence and post a report of the statistics annually on its website.
