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CHAPTER 321
BOARD OF PARDONS
Table of Contents
Sec. 18-24. How constituted; disqualification. Appointive members.
Sec. 18-24a. Appointment. Term. Compensation. Disqualification.
Sec. 18-25. Compensation.
Sec. 18-26. Jurisdiction.
Sec. 18-26a. Commutation of punishment and deportation of inmates who are aliens.
Sec. 18-27. Sessions. Secretary.
Sec. 18-27a. Testimony of crime victim at session of board. Notification of Office of Victim Services of board's action.
Sec. 18-28. Attendance of witnesses.
Sec. 18-29. Prisoners; attendance; expenses.
Sec. 18-30. Information about prisoner.
Section
18-24 is repealed.
(1949 Rev., S. 3019; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 3.)
See Sec. 18-24a re Board of Pardons.
The Board
of Pardons shall be an autonomous body within the Department of Correction for administrative purposes only. Said board shall consist of five members, residents of this state.
Biennially, a member or members shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice
and consent of either house of the General Assembly, to take office the first Monday
in June in the year of their appointment for a term of six years to replace those whose
terms expire. Three members shall be attorneys, one shall be skilled in one of the social
sciences and one shall be a physician. Not more than three of such members holding
office at any one time shall be members of any one political party. The board shall,
biennially, elect its chairperson. The members of the board shall be paid a per diem fee
fixed by the Commissioner of Administrative Services for attendance at each session
of the board in lieu of expenses. If any member has formed an opinion in any matter
that comes before it, said member shall not act concerning the same, but no member
shall be disqualified by reason of having formed an opinion thereon at any former application for pardon by the same applicant. When at any session any member is absent or
disqualified, the Governor may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy, and the
person so appointed shall have the same power as any other member during such absence
or disqualification. The person appointed by the Governor to fill a temporary vacancy
need not necessarily possess the particular occupational or political qualifications of
the member whose place such person is temporarily taking.
(1959, P.A. 410, S. 1; 1963, P.A. 172; P.A. 73-219, S. 1, 2; P.A. 77-614, S. 125, 610; P.A. 79-560, S. 31, 39; P.A. 88-
1, S. 4, 13; P.A. 94-169 S. 2, 20.)
History: 1963 act stipulated that judge shall not act if he tried or heard case as a judge of any trial court and excused
person filling temporary vacancy from meeting qualifications of member he is replacing; P.A. 73-219 specified that board
is autonomous body and within department of correction for fiscal and budgetary purposes only and changed maximum
number of members of same political party to two, exclusive of judicial member; P.A. 77-614 transferred power to set per
diem from personnel policy board to commissioner of administrative services subject to approval of secretary of office of
policy and management; P.A. 79-560 changed "fiscal and budgetary" purposes to "administrative" purposes; P.A. 88-1
eliminated involvement of secretary of the office of policy and management in determination of per diem fee paid to board
members; P.A. 94-169 increased number of attorney members of board from two to three, eliminated requirement that one
member be a supreme court judge and changed "chairman" to "chairperson", effective July 1, 1994.
See Sec. 4-38f for definition of "for administrative purposes only".
Former section cited. 136 C. 318.
Section 18-25 is repealed.
(1949 Rev., S. 3588; 1957, P.A. 265, S. 2; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 3.)
See Sec. 18-24a re Board of Pardons.
(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.
(b) Said board shall have authority to grant pardons, conditioned or absolute, for
any offense against the state at any time after the imposition and before or after the
service of any sentence.
(c) Whenever the board grants an absolute pardon to any person, the secretary of
said 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.
(1949 Rev., S. 3020; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 4; P.A. 74-163, S. 5; P.A. 76-388, S. 5, 6; 76-436, S. 10a, 595, 681.)
History: 1959 act extended jurisdiction in Subsec. (a) from cases of persons confined in State Prison to persons convicted
of any offense against the state; P.A. 74-163 added Subsec. (c) re notice of absolute pardon; P.A. 76-388 included circuit
court and replaced "chief clerk" of court of common pleas with "chief judge" in Subsec. (c); P.A. 76-436 replaced "chief
judge of common pleas court" with "office of the chief court administrator", effective July 1, 1978.
Cited. 124 C. 123; 145 C. 60; 152 C. 601. Cited. 206 C. 267—269, 271, 275.
Cited. 15 CA 161, 182. Cited. 26 CA 132, 141.
Cited. 26 CS 181. Cited. 35 CS 516, 519.
Subsec. (a):
Board may revoke an absolute commutation prior to actual release of prisoner if factual basis for commutation proves
to be erroneous and justification for granting commutation thereby abrogated. 206 C. 267, 270.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 208 C. 420, 424.
Sec. 18-26a. Commutation of punishment and deportation of inmates who are
aliens. (a) The Board of Pardons shall enter into an agreement with the United States
Immigration and Naturalization Service for the deportation of persons incarcerated in
correctional facilities in the state who are aliens upon the conditioned commutation of
their punishment by said board.
(b) The Board of Pardons may grant a commutation of punishment in the case of
any person incarcerated in a correctional facility in the state who is an alien and transfer
such person to the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service for deportation
in accordance with the agreement entered into pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
provided such person agrees not to contest his criminal conviction and deportation.
(P.A. 95-162.)
Said board shall hold a session when and where
occasion requires. Four-fifths of the members of said board shall concur in order to
make their judgment operative. Said board shall appoint a secretary trained in the law
and fix by rule the mode of procedure before it and the manner in which its judgment
shall be carried into effect.
(1949 Rev., S. 3021; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 5; 643.)
History: 1959 acts deleted requirement that board hold session at Hartford and Wethersfield at certain times, adding
that it be held when and where required, reduced membership of board needed to concur from all members to four-fifths
and substituted secretary trained in law for clerk.
(a) For the purposes of this section, "victim"
means a person who is a victim of a crime, the legal representative of such person or a
member of a deceased victim's immediate family.
(b) At a session held by the Board of Pardons to consider whether to grant a commutation of punishment or release, conditioned or absolute, a commutation from the penalty
of death or a pardon, conditioned or absolute, to any person convicted of any crime, the
board shall permit any victim of the crime for which the person was convicted to appear
before the board for the purpose of making a statement for the record concerning whether
the convicted person should be granted such commutation, release or pardon. In lieu of
such appearance, the victim may submit a written statement to the board and the board
shall make such statement a part of the record at the session.
(c) If the Board of Pardons is prepared to grant a commutation of punishment or
release, conditioned or absolute, a commutation from the penalty of death or a pardon,
conditioned or absolute, to a person convicted of an offense involving the use, attempted
use or threatened use of physical force against another person or resulting in the physical
injury, serious physical injury or death of another person, it shall make reasonable efforts
to locate and notify any victim of the crime for which such person was convicted prior
to granting such commutation, release or pardon and shall permit such victim to appear
before the board and make a statement or submit a statement as provided in subsection
(b) of this section.
(d) Upon the granting to any person of a commutation of punishment or release,
conditioned or absolute, a commutation from the penalty of death or a pardon, conditioned or absolute, the Board of Pardons shall forthwith notify the Office of Victim
Services of its action.
(P.A. 91-389, S. 8, 12; P.A. 99-247, S. 3; P.A. 01-211, S. 8.)
History: P.A. 91-389, S. 8 effective April 1, 1992; (Revisor's note: In 1995 the reference to "Commission on Victim
Services" in Subsec. (c) was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Office of Victim Services" to carry out the provisions
of Public Act 93-310); P.A. 99-247 added new Subsec. (c) to require the board to make reasonable efforts to locate and
notify any victim of a crime of violence prior to granting the person convicted of such crime a commutation, release or
pardon and to permit such victim to appear before the board and make or submit a statement, relettering former Subsec.
(c) as Subsec. (d); P.A. 01-211 amended Subsec. (a) to redefine "victim" as "a person who is a victim of a crime, the legal
representative of such person or a member of a deceased victim's immediate family" rather than "the victim, the legal
representative of the victim or a member of a deceased victim's immediate family", amended Subsec. (b) to make provisions
applicable at a session for a person convicted of "any crime" rather than "a class A, B or C felony or a violation of section
53a-60a, 53a-60c, 53a-72b, 53a-103a or 53a-216" and amended Subsec. (c) to make provisions applicable with respect to
a person convicted of an offense "resulting in the physical injury, serious physical injury or death of another person".
Said board shall have all the authority of
the Superior Court to compel the attendance of witnesses summoned by the secretary
of said board or other competent authority.
(1949 Rev., S. 3022; P.A. 00-99, S. 57, 154.)
History: P.A. 00-99 deleted provision re sheriff of Hartford County or his deputy attending sessions of board and
collecting fees for attendance, effective December 1, 2000.
The secretary of said board shall
have power to issue process under his hand and the seal of said board to the principal
officers of the correctional institutions and to the Community Correctional Center Administrator, commanding them to have before said board the bodies of the prisoners
named in such process who are confined in such institutions or in community correctional centers. The sums paid for witnesses and other necessary expenses authorized by
said board shall be certified by the chairman of the board, and the Comptroller shall
draw his order on the Treasurer for the same.
(1949 Rev., S. 3023; 1959, P.A. 410, S. 6; 1969, P.A. 297.)
History: 1959 act deleted reference to clerk of board, substituting secretary, and changed reference to warden of State
Prison to principal officers of institutions; 1969 act replaced jails with community correctional centers.
Said board may institute inquiries by
correspondence or otherwise as to the previous history or character of any prisoner, and
each prosecuting officer, judge, police officer or other person shall give said board,
upon request, such information as he may possess with reference to the habits, disposition, career and associates of any prisoner.
(1949 Rev., S. 3024.)
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