Series 329

DESCRIPTION: From the beginning of the territorial government in 1850, the Governor excercised the power to grant pardons to individuals convicted of crimes. As with other "official acts" of the Governor, pardons were recorded by the Secretary of the Territory; and beginning in 1880, a separate register containing printed pardon forms was used for this purpose. The use of these registers was continued by the Secretary, even after the Board of Pardons assumed responsibility for granting pardons in 1896.

Two registers were used initially. From 1880-1885, pardons that were granted for good behavior and compliance with the rules of prison discipline were apparently recorded in a separate volume. The third register, begun in 1896, is identified as a Board of Pardons record book.

A pardon was normally granted by the Governor in response to petitions for clemency received from local citizen groups, or upon the recommendation of state and local officials acquainted with the individual case. Reasons for granting a pardon usually involved the health and condition of the prisoner or his family, or the general belief that the prisoner had been sufficiently rehabilitated or punished. Exemplary behavior while in prison was often sited as evidence of rehabilitation. Only a few pardons were granted because the Governor felt that an individual prisoner had been wrongly convicted.

Each entry includes the name of the person pardoned, the court in which the case was originally tried, the type of crime committed, the term of sentence, and usually a short explanation of the reasons for granting the pardon.

ARRANGEMENT: Pardons are recorded in chronological order by the date granted in each volume.

RELATED RECORDS: Supporting documentation for these pardons, which includes the petitions and letters, are filed in the TERRITORIAL EXECUTIVE PAPERS, series 241, until 1896. Series 328, PRISONERS' PARDON APPLICATIONS CASE FILES and series #397, PARDONS, provide supporting documentation. These series also contain similar information about those individuals who were refused pardons. The PARDON HEARINGS REGISTERS, series 330, shows the schedule of the proceedings followed in each case. MINUTES of the Board of Pardons discuss individual cases. Coverage in the minutes starts in 1907. Before 1880, all pardons granted were recorded in the EXECUTIVE RECORD BOOKS, series 242.

FINDING AIDS: An index is available.

CUSTODY HISTORY: In 1969, the PARDONS GRANTED RECORD BOOKS were transferred from the Secretary of State's office to the State Archives for permanent storage.

PROCESSING NOTE: Archival processing was completed in 1987 by Val Wilson. The first two registers were microfilmed together on the same reel, (35mm), shortly after their transfer to the archives.

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