The Clemency Petition Process & the Office of the Pardon Attorney

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best, Esq., and Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA

A clemency petition is not simply a letter to the President. In the ordinary course, it is a formal application that moves through a defined review process within the Department of Justice — centered on the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Understanding that process, and how a petition is built to succeed within it, is essential for anyone seeking a federal pardon or commutation.

At Elizabeth Franklin-Best, P.C., we guide clemency petitions through every stage of this process. Our principal attorney, Elizabeth Franklin-Best — whose appellate work earned selection to the 2026 Best Lawyers in America in Appellate Practice, and whose white-collar practice carries a 2026 Chambers USA ranking in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations — leads the advocacy, while Managing Director Christopher Zoukis, a recognized authority on the federal prison system, builds the institutional record. The petition process itself is governed by Department of Justice regulations at 28 C.F.R. Part 1.

This guide explains the clemency petition process — the role of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, how a petition is submitted, what a petition contains, how the review and investigation work, the path a recommendation travels, the timeline, and how a strong petition is prepared. If you are considering a federal clemency petition, this guide explains the road ahead.

Quick Answer

Question	Answer
What is the Office of the Pardon Attorney?	The Department of Justice office that administers the federal clemency process — receiving, reviewing, and making recommendations on clemency petitions.
How is a clemency petition submitted?	Into the process administered by the Office of the Pardon Attorney, using a clemency petition form — a pardon petition or a commutation petition, depending on the relief sought.
Is a clemency petition investigated?	Yes. The Office of the Pardon Attorney reviews the petition and conducts investigation into the petitioner and the case.
Who makes the final decision?	The President. The Pardon Attorney, working under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General, prepares a report and recommendation in every case, and the President decides — a decision no court can review.
How long does the process take?	Usually years, not months. Petitions pending when an administration ends remain open for the next President, and status can be checked through the Office of the Pardon Attorney online case locator.
How does our firm help?	Through a paid, one-hour initial consultation that maps your petition against the 28 C.F.R. Part 1 process and the Justice Manual standards before a single form is filed.

Key Takeaways

• The Office of the Pardon Attorney administers the ordinary federal clemency process within the Department of Justice.
• The process is governed by the regulations in 28 C.F.R. Part 1.
• A petition is submitted using a clemency petition form — a pardon petition or a commutation petition.
• A complete petition presents the offense, the petitioner’s history, the post-conviction record, the reasons for clemency, and supporting documentation.
• A clemency petition is investigated, not just read — candor and accuracy are essential.
• A written report and recommendation is prepared in every case — through the Pardon Attorney under the Deputy Attorney General’s direction — and the President makes the final, unreviewable decision.
• There is no hearing: federal clemency is a written process, so the petition does all the talking.
• The timeline usually runs years; pending petitions carry over between administrations, and a denied applicant may reapply immediately.
• The petition is the primary vehicle for the case — its quality matters more than almost anything else.

The Office of the Pardon Attorney

The Office of the Pardon Attorney is the Department of Justice office that administers the federal clemency process. While the clemency power belongs to the President alone, modern Presidents have generally relied on this office to receive, review, and make recommendations on clemency petitions.

Under Justice Manual § 9-140.110, the Pardon Attorney works under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General and performs four functions: receiving and reviewing every petition for executive clemency — pardon after completion of sentence, commutation, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve; initiating and directing the necessary investigations; preparing a report and recommendation for submission to the President in every case; and serving as the public’s point of contact while a petition is pending. The office has performed this advisory role for well over a century, and its work is structured by the regulations in 28 C.F.R. Part 1.

One point should frame everything that follows. The regulations themselves say, in 28 C.F.R. § 1.11, that they are advisory only — internal guidance for Department of Justice personnel that creates no enforceable rights and places no restriction on the President’s Article II authority. The President can grant clemency entirely outside this process, and recent Presidents sometimes have. But the great majority of petitions rise or fall within the ordinary channel, so a petition should be engineered to succeed there.

Submitting a Clemency Petition

The mechanics come from 28 C.F.R. § 1.1. A person seeking clemency executes a formal petition addressed to the President of the United States and submits it to the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice. The official forms are available from the Office of the Pardon Attorney — and commutation forms can also be obtained from the wardens of federal prisons. Under current practice, the office prefers submissions by email, with attachments in PDF format, and a filed petition generates a case number that can be tracked through the office’s online case locator.

Choosing the right petition type is the first substantive decision. A person seeking a pardon files a pardon petition — generally only after the five-year waiting period in § 1.2 has run, a subject our eligibility guide covers. A person seeking a commutation files a commutation petition — generally only after other judicial and administrative remedies are exhausted, per § 1.3. Two routing exceptions are easy to miss: military court-martial offenses go to the Secretary of the military department that had jurisdiction over the case, not to the Pardon Attorney, and offenses against the laws of U.S. territories or possessions belong to the territorial authorities under § 1.4.

The petition is more than the form itself. The form is the framework, but a strong petition is built out with a full, documented presentation of the petitioner’s case — the offense, the history, the rehabilitation, the supporting materials. The form starts the process; the substance is what carries it.

What a Clemency Petition Contains

A complete clemency petition presents the whole of the petitioner’s case. Its contents fall into several broad areas.

• The offense and the conviction. An honest account of the offense, the conviction, and the sentence — acknowledged squarely, not minimized.
• The petitioner’s history. The petitioner’s background, personal history, and characteristics.
• The post-conviction record. For a pardon, the law-abiding and constructive life since the conviction; for a commutation, the record built in prison — rehabilitation, programming, and conduct.
• The reasons for clemency. A clear explanation of why clemency is sought and what it would mean.
• Supporting documentation. Records, character letters, and other materials that substantiate the petition.

A clemency petition, at its best, is a coherent narrative supported by proof. It tells the story of a person — the offense included — and makes the case, honestly and persuasively, for why mercy is warranted. Assembling that story and that proof is the heart of the work.

The Process Step by Step

Mapped against 28 C.F.R. Part 1 and the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s published description, a clemency petition travels six stages:

1. Selection and filing. The petitioner chooses the correct form of relief, completes the official form, and submits it to the Pardon Attorney addressed to the President (§ 1.1). The office confirms receipt and assigns a case number.
2. Investigation. The Attorney General — in practice, the Pardon Attorney’s office — causes whatever investigation the matter requires, drawing on government agencies including the FBI (§ 1.6(a)). In pardon cases this customarily means a full background investigation.
3. Comments from the field. The office routinely asks the United States Attorney in the district of conviction for comments and a recommendation, and asks that the sentencing judge’s views be solicited as well. Under Justice Manual § 9-140.111, those views are given considerable weight.
4. Victim notification. For felony offenses with victims, where the Attorney General concludes contact is warranted, reasonable efforts are made to notify victims that a petition has been filed, that they may comment, and how the matter is ultimately resolved (§ 1.6(b)).
5. Report and recommendation. A written recommendation — grant or deny — is prepared in every case and submitted to the President (§ 1.6(c)). The Pardon Attorney operates under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General, whose office signs out the Department’s position.
6. Presidential decision and notice. If clemency is granted, the warrant issues — mailed to a pardoned petitioner, or routed through the institution for a commutation (§ 1.7). If denied, the petitioner is advised and the case is closed (§ 1.8). One quirk of § 1.8(b): when the Department recommends denial and the President takes no action within 30 days, the President is presumed to concur, and the case closes on that presumption.

Death-penalty cases run on their own track. Under 28 C.F.R. § 1.10, a capital clemency petition generally waits until the direct appeal and the first 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion are finished, must be filed within 30 days after the Bureau of Prisons gives notice of an execution date, and — uniquely in federal clemency — allows counsel to request an oral presentation to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Only one capital commutation request is processed to completion absent exceptional circumstances.

Review and Investigation

Once a petition is submitted, it enters a review process. The Office of the Pardon Attorney reviews the petition and conducts investigation into the petitioner and the case.

The investigation has teeth. For pardons, the FBI customarily runs a background investigation covering employment and financial stability, family responsibility, community reputation, and service — and verifies the answers given in the application. The prosecuting U.S. Attorney is asked to weigh in, the sentencing judge’s views are solicited, and the substance of the prosecutor’s recommendation goes into the report the President sees. In cooperation-based petitions, the office may also contact the districts where the petitioner cooperated. One Justice Manual ground rule deserves emphasis: the correctness of the conviction is assumed — the clemency process is not a forum to relitigate guilt, and a petitioner who claims innocence or a miscarriage of justice invites the prosecuting office to respond directly to that claim.

This is one reason honesty in the petition is essential. A petition that minimizes the offense, omits unfavorable facts, or overstates the favorable ones risks being contradicted by the investigation — and a petition whose credibility is undermined is a petition that will not succeed. The strongest petitions are candid, accurate, and able to withstand scrutiny.

Applied Insight: A clemency petition is investigated, not just filed. That single fact should shape how every petition is written. Candor is not only the ethical course — it is the strategic one. A petition that honestly acknowledges the offense and the hard facts, and then makes its case on the truth, is far stronger than one that shades the record and risks being exposed.

The Path to a Decision

After review and investigation, a clemency petition moves toward a decision along a defined path.

The routing is short but consequential: the Office of the Pardon Attorney prepares the report and recommendation, the Deputy Attorney General’s office — which supervises the Pardon Attorney — signs out the Department’s position, and the written recommendation goes to the President, who alone decides. The Supreme Court has twice confirmed that no court sits above that decision. In Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U.S. 458 (1981), the Court explained that the mere existence of a commutation power creates no entitlement, that clemency authorities need not even give reasons, and that pardon and commutation decisions are rarely, if ever, appropriate subjects for judicial review. Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard, 523 U.S. 272 (1998), reaffirmed that framework, recognizing at most minimal procedural protection even where life is at stake.

Because the decision rests with the President and is unreviewable, the petition itself carries enormous weight. It is the primary vehicle through which the petitioner’s case reaches the people who evaluate it. A petition that is thorough, honest, well-documented, and persuasive gives the case its best chance as it travels this path.

The Timeline

Anyone considering a clemency petition should understand that the process takes time — often a considerable amount of it.

Measured in practice, the road from filing to decision is usually measured in years. The volume of pending petitions, the depth of the investigation, and the rhythms of each administration all stretch the calendar. But three institutional rules soften the wait. First, every properly filed petition is ultimately decided by the President — the Office of the Pardon Attorney closes cases administratively only in narrow situations, such as withdrawal, repeated failure to respond, the petitioner’s death or loss of U.S. residence, or release from prison while a commutation petition seeking only a shorter term is pending. Second, a petition pending when a President leaves office remains open and active for the next President. Third, under current guidance a denied applicant may reapply immediately, with no waiting period — and a pending file can be supplemented at any time with new accomplishments, letters, or changed circumstances.

The practical implication is patience and early action. A clemency petition is not a fast remedy, and a petitioner should not expect a quick answer. Beginning the process — and submitting a strong, complete petition — sooner rather than later is the best response to a long timeline.

Preparing a Strong Petition

Because the clemency decision is discretionary and unreviewable, and because the petition is the primary vehicle for the petitioner’s case, the quality of the petition matters more than almost anything else the petitioner controls.

A strong petition is complete — it addresses everything the review will consider. It is honest — it acknowledges the offense and the unfavorable facts squarely. It is well-documented — every important claim is supported. It is well-organized and clearly written — it makes the evaluator’s task easier, not harder. And it is tailored to the relief sought — a pardon petition and a commutation petition emphasize different things. A petition with these qualities is, in a real sense, the petitioner’s whole case, presented at its best.

The contrast between a perfunctory petition and a thorough one is stark. A clemency petition is a once-in-a-process opportunity to make a person’s case for mercy, and it deserves the effort that a serious case requires.

How Our Firm Handles the Process

Because the clemency process is investigative, the best petitions are prepared the way a litigator prepares for cross-examination: every claim verified before the government verifies it. That is how we work. We know what the FBI background investigation will probe, what the U.S. Attorney’s response is likely to emphasize, and which Bureau of Prisons records will corroborate — or quietly contradict — a rehabilitation narrative, and we build the petition to survive all of it.

That instinct comes from the work itself. Elizabeth Franklin-Best has appeared in more than 330 federal matters — better than 100 of them appeals across all twelve federal circuits and at the U.S. Supreme Court at the certiorari stage — and a record built on briefs that anticipate the government’s response is exactly what a petition facing FBI verification and a prosecutor’s comment demands. Our work on the clemency petition process includes determining the correct type of petition, building the complete documentary and narrative case, gathering records and character materials, presenting the offense and history honestly so the petition withstands investigation, and submitting and shepherding a thorough petition through the Office of the Pardon Attorney process. We represent people seeking federal clemency nationwide.

For related reading, see our pardons and clemency overview and our guides to clemency eligibility and waiting periods and presidential pardons.

Talk With a Clemency Lawyer

The clemency petition process is defined, deliberate, and demanding. A petition is reviewed and investigated, the decision is discretionary and final, and the petition itself is the primary vehicle for the case. A thorough, honest, well-built petition gives the case its best chance.

A paid, one-hour initial consultation is where our clemency work begins. In it, we walk through the Part 1 process step by step as it applies to your case — which form of relief fits, whether the eligibility rules favor filing now, what the investigation will surface, and what a petition built to withstand it would contain. If a clemency petition is under consideration in your family, book that hour now.