The Arizona Parole Board, officially the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, is the five-member body that decides parole for people whose crimes occurred before January 1, 1994, and that recommends commutations, pardons, and reprieves to the governor for everyone else convicted of a state felony. The governor cannot grant any form of clemency without the board’s recommendation first. If the offense happened on or after January 1, 1994, traditional parole no longer exists in Arizona at all.
That single date governs almost everything the board does, so it’s the right place to start.
The 1994 Cutoff Changes Everything
Arizona’s truth-in-sentencing law, enacted in 1993, abolished parole for anyone whose offense occurred on or after January 1, 1994. Before that cutoff, parole worked the traditional way: serve enough of your sentence, go before the board, and potentially leave early under supervision. After the cutoff, inmates serve their full sentence minus earned-release credits, then transition directly to a period of community supervision managed by the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
The board still has a role for post-1994 offenders, but a narrower one. It handles community supervision violations, considers petitions for sentence commutations in extraordinary cases, and can recommend pardons. It does not grant parole to anyone sentenced under the newer system. If the crime happened after January 1, 1994, parole is off the table.
Who Sits on the Board
Five full-time members are appointed by the governor for staggered five-year terms. Each must bring broad professional or educational qualifications and a demonstrated interest in corrections, and no more than two members can come from the same professional discipline. The governor selects one member as chair for a two-year term and can replace the chair at any time.
Before casting a single vote, every new member completes a four-week training course covering all relevant statutes and decision-making workshops, designed by the chair and run jointly by the board’s office and the Attorney General’s office. Three members form a quorum for hearings, though the chair can designate two members as a quorum. If a two-member panel splits, the chair breaks the tie; if the chair is one of those two members, the action fails.
Parole Eligibility for Pre-1994 Offenses
For offenders whose crimes predate the 1994 cutoff, the Department of Corrections classifies inmates into two parole eligibility tiers. Class one requires following department rules and volunteering for or successfully participating in a work, educational, treatment, or training program. Class two requires adherence to department rules without the programming requirement. Every prisoner starts in class one on their sentence begin date.
Earliest parole eligibility generally arrives after serving half the imposed sentence. If the sentencing statute requires a longer mandatory minimum, the prisoner must serve at least that full minimum first. The department certifies a prisoner as parole-eligible five months before the earliest eligibility date, and the prisoner must stay in an eligible classification from certification through actual release. Dropping to a non-eligible class resets the clock by the number of days spent in that class before reclassification.
Once certified, the prisoner gets a hearing before the board or a hearing officer. If parole is granted, the person stays on parole until the board revokes it, grants an absolute discharge, or the individual reaches their earned-release credit date. At that point, parole terminates automatically and the board’s authority over the person ends.
Commutations and Pardons for Post-1994 Offenders
Because parole is gone for newer offenses, commutation is the main avenue for shortening a sentence. The board can recommend a commutation to the governor only after a hearing where the victim, county attorney, and sentencing judge receive notice and an opportunity to speak. The standard is high: the board must find by clear and convincing evidence that the sentence imposed is clearly excessive given the offense and the offender’s record, and that the offender will probably obey the law if released. Both prongs must be met.
The commutation process runs in two phases. Phase I is open to the public, but no one outside the board testifies at that stage. If the board moves the case forward, a Phase II hearing is scheduled within roughly 60 days, with fresh notifications sent to all required parties. The two-step structure gives the board a screening mechanism before a full adversarial proceeding.
Petitions can come from the incarcerated individual, from organizations, or from the Department of Corrections itself. A separate track exists for offenders whose sentencing court entered a special order allowing them to petition the board directly.
How to Apply for a Pardon
Pardon applications go directly to the board’s Phoenix office on North Central Avenue and are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. A complete package includes:
- A notarized application: the original plus one copy, with the signature page notarized.
- Two recent sets of fingerprints.
- A copy of the presentence report and sentencing documents for the conviction you want pardoned.
- Proof that all court fees and restitution have been paid.
- Copies of any prior absolute discharge, restoration of civil rights, or set-aside conviction orders.
- At least three letters of support, with no more than one from a blood or marriage relative.
Arizona law also requires that at least ten days before the board acts on a pardon application, the applicant must serve written notice on the county attorney in the county of conviction and submit proof of service by affidavit. Unless the governor waives it, notice must also be published for thirty days in a newspaper in that county. The board will not process incomplete applications.
Violations and What the Board Can Do About Them
When someone on community supervision or parole breaks the terms of their release, the Department of Corrections files a petition with the board alleging the violation. The board then chooses among three options:
- Electronic monitoring, available when the person has not committed a new criminal offense, keeping them in the community under tighter surveillance.
- Additional supervision conditions layered on while the person stays out of prison.
- Revocation, sending the person back to prison for the remainder of the supervision term.
A hearing officer conducts the probable cause hearings, and the board itself holds the revocation hearings. In the board’s most recent annual report, the hearing officer conducted 631 probable cause hearings and the board held 1,272 revocation hearings.
What Victims Can Expect
Victim involvement runs through nearly every stage. All clemency applications submitted to the governor must include documentation that the victim or the victim’s family was notified. For commutation hearings, board staff handle the required notifications to victims, the county attorney, and the sentencing judge before a hearing date is set. Victims and their families can attend both Phase I and Phase II hearings, though Phase I does not include public testimony.
The notification requirement is not just procedural. The commutation statute conditions the board’s authority to recommend a reduced sentence on the victim, county attorney, and presiding judge having been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. A recommendation issued without proper notice would be legally vulnerable, which is why staff treats notification as a threshold requirement before any hearing moves forward.
Do You Get a Lawyer at the Hearing?
Arizona does not guarantee counsel at every parole or revocation hearing. The U.S. Supreme Court held in Gagnon v. Scarpelli that the right to counsel at revocation proceedings is decided case by case rather than as a blanket rule. Counsel should generally be provided where the person has difficulty presenting disputed facts without cross-examining witnesses or navigating complex evidence, or where there are substantial reasons in justification or mitigation that make revocation inappropriate. When a request for counsel is denied, the grounds for refusal must be noted in the record.
In practice, you can request an attorney, but the hearing body decides whether one is required. Straightforward facts you’ve already admitted make appointed counsel unlikely. Contested facts or complicated legal issues shift the calculus in your favor. Either way, nothing prevents you from hiring your own attorney.
Federal Convictions Are a Different System
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency handles only state felony convictions. The President of the United States cannot pardon a state offense, and the Arizona board has no authority over federal cases. Presidential clemency covers federal offenses, including those from U.S. District Courts, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and military courts-martial. A federal conviction in Arizona goes through the U.S. Department of Justice, not the state board. The federal system also abolished parole in the 1980s through the Sentencing Reform Act, replacing it with supervised release, so the two systems operate on separate tracks.