Governor's Pardon Lawyer in Chester County.

Not for an unconditional pardon granted under the current law. Act 36 of 2023 added 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(a.1), which makes expungement of an unconditionally pardoned conviction automatic — the Board of Pardons transmits pardoned cases to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts quarterly, the AOPC forwards them to the county court, and that court orders the expungement without any petition from you. A conditional pardon does not trigger automatic expungement; that conviction is automatically sealed instead under § 9122.2(a)(4). Because the process moves on a quarterly cycle, expect a real lag between the unconditional pardon and the record actually clearing.

Plan in years, not months. Application preparation, merit-review screening, any public hearing, the Board's vote, and the Governor's discretionary decision each add time, and the automatic expungement that follows an unconditional pardon arrives on the AOPC's quarterly cycle after that. The Board applies expedited review automatically to every application as of 2025 — applicants no longer request it. The thresholds run from the applicant's last criminal-justice contact: five years for a single case of misdemeanor retail theft or marijuana possession under 35 P.S. § 780-113(16), (31) or (32); ten years for one criminal case of any offense type; fifteen years where there is more than one case. A published disqualifying-offense list applies, and expedited review does not guarantee a public hearing.

Not automatically. An unconditional pardon clears the conviction and, since June 2024, triggers automatic expungement of it, but firearm eligibility under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6105 and federal law is a separate analysis that depends on the specific offense and the terms of the pardon. Ask about this specifically before you rely on it.

Expedited review may resolve an application without a public hearing. If the application is scheduled for a public hearing in Harrisburg, the applicant's own testimony is usually the most persuasive part of the record, and victims and objectors may also be heard. We prepare you for the questions the Board actually asks rather than sending you in cold.

Yes, but generally each conviction needs its own application, and each granted unconditional pardon then triggers its own automatic expungement under § 9122(a.1). If you have several old cases — sometimes across different counties — we sequence them rather than filing everything blindly at once.

No. Expungement under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122 destroys eligible non-convictions, ARD dispositions, and old summary offenses. Clean Slate limits public access to summary and misdemeanor convictions and, since Act 36 of 2023, to qualifying drug felonies automatically and to certain third-degree theft, forgery, fraud, trespass and criminal-mischief felonies by petition. A pardon is the route for what neither expungement nor sealing can reach — felonies of the first and second degree, and offenses excluded by § 9122.1(b)(1) or § 9122.3.

It can be, particularly with substantial time elapsed, a stable work history, and a concrete collateral consequence to point to. The Board weighs the offense conduct heavily on firearms and violent cases, so the application needs to address it directly rather than around it.

Yes. They are separate mechanisms in separate forums — Clean Slate limited-access relief runs through the county court, the pardon through the Board of Pardons in Harrisburg.

No. Expedited review may resolve an application without a public hearing. If a Board hearing is scheduled, it is in Harrisburg. West Chester's role is entering the automatic expungement after an unconditional pardon is granted.