OFFICE OF THE PARDON ATTORNEY

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The Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) dates from the Act of March 3, 1865, which created the Office of the Pardon Clerk in the Office of the Attorney General. By the Act of March 3, 1891, the Office of the Attorney in Charge of Pardons, now known as the Office of the Pardon Attorney, was substituted for the Pardon Clerk.

The OPA currently includes six permanent attorney positions: the Pardon Attorney, the Deputy Pardon Attorney, and four staff attorneys. The mission of the Pardon Attorney is to assist the President in the exercise of his Constitutional pardoning power by providing him with the best information available on which to base a fair and just decision in cases in which applicants seek clemency.

The major functions of OPA are to:

• Receive and review all petitions for executive clemency, conduct the necessary investigations and prepare recommendations to the President for action.
  
  
• Provide policy guidance for the conduct of clemency proceedings and the standards for decision.
  
  
• Confer with individual clemency applicants, their representatives, public groups, Members of Congress, various federal, state, and local officials and others in connection with the disposition of clemency proceedings.
  
  
• Participate in training and other conferences related to the field of Criminal Justice corrections, and clemency, and maintain the contacts required of OPA with Department of Justice officials, the Counsel to the President, and other government officials.

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