Executive use of pardons in Wisconsin

By the numbers

Gov. Tony Evers granted a new tranche of 153 pardons last week, bringing the total number of persons pardoned under his tenure to a record 1,264.

Under the Wisconsin constitution, the power to grant clemency rests solely in the executive, and like the presidential pardon power under the U.S. Constitution, the Wisconsin governor has wide authority to pardon or commute any convicted person at his discretion, according to a report by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.

If pardoned, a criminal convicted for crimes against the State of Wisconsin regains all of his or her civil rights, including the right to vote, the right to run for public office, and the right to possess a firearm. A governor may also issue a conditional pardon, which could be revoked if the person fails to fulfill certain conditions.

However, a particular governor’s use of the pardon power may vary widely. Evers, like some of his predecessors, set up a pardon advisory board that processes applications and considers whether to grant pardons based on criteria that include the time since one’s sentence was completed and a person’s sex offender status. Via this board, Evers has granted an average of almost 230 pardons per year.

His immediate predecessor, Gov. Scott Walker, however, took a very different approach, not granting a single pardon during his term in office.

While Evers now holds the distinction of having granted the most pardons of any governor in Wisconsin history, previous executives have been similarly liberal in granting them. The former record-holder for most pardons granted was Gov. Julius Heil, a Republican who issued 943 pardons from 1939 to 1943. Heil also commuted the sentences of 95 people.

Gov. Walter Goodland, Heil’s Republican successor, continued to grant pardons but at about half the rate, issuing a total of 433 pardons during his term from 1943 to 1947.

In addition to Walker, two other governors did not issue any pardons or commutations while in office: Gov. Arthur McArthur, who served for just five days from March 21 to March 25, 1856, and Gov. William Henry Upham, who served two years from 1895 to 1897.

The underlying numbers