Governor's Pardon Lawyer in Montgomery 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 makes it a strong application, not an automatic one. Time elapsed and demonstrated rehabilitation are central to the Board's merit review, but the Board still evaluates the offense conduct, any victim input, and the specific reason you need relief now.

Yes. Nothing about a pending pardon application changes what appears on a background check. After an unconditional pardon is granted, automatic expungement under § 9122(a.1) works through the AOPC's quarterly transmission.

Sometimes. If part of your record is sealable under the Clean Slate Act, that relief is far faster and can solve an immediate employment problem while the pardon application proceeds on its own timeline. We look at both together.