Types of Clemency

Article IV, section 7 of the Missouri Constitution authorizes the state’s chief executive – the Missouri governor – to grant offenders certain types of relief from their criminal sentences. Generally categorized as “clemency,” these forms of relief include:

Reprieve – The governor may stay execution of a sentence, meaning the beginning of when the offender must begin serving the sentence is delayed.
Commutation – The governor may commute, or reduce, the sentence of an offender serving a sentence of imprisonment, either in full or in part.
Pardon – The governor may restore rights of citizenship to an offender and remove collateral consequences stemming from the conviction. The governor may grant a full pardon or a partial pardon.

Once an application for clemency is made, there typically is an investigation process, followed by a recommendation to the governor, who then makes the ultimate decision.

Learn more about the process for these gubernatorial forms of relief, or to apply for such relief, from the Missouri Department of Corrections website.

Learn more about the pardons and other commutations Missouri's governor has granted from his website.