Restriction of Rights in Illinois: Voting, Firearms, and Licensing

An Illinois conviction restricts a narrower set of civil rights than many people assume, and most of the restrictions are temporary. The clearest example is voting: you lose it only while physically confined, not during parole or probation. Firearm ownership, professional licensing, and some employment decisions follow their own rules, and each has its own restoration path. The restriction of rights in Illinois after a criminal case is best understood right by right, because the rules do not move together.

Voting

You lose the right to vote only while you are serving a sentence of imprisonment in a prison or jail. The Illinois Unified Code of Corrections states that a person sentenced to imprisonment loses the right to vote until released from imprisonment.¹ The Election Code confirms that confinement does not include someone released on parole.²

So you can vote on parole, mandatory supervised release, probation, or electronic monitoring. You can vote while held pretrial. The Illinois Department of Corrections confirms that anyone not currently serving time for a conviction is eligible, and people with movement restrictions can vote early at permitted polling locations or by mail ballot.³

There is no application, no waiting period, and no fee. Re-register at your current address and vote.

Firearms and the FOID Card

You need a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card to legally possess a firearm or ammunition in Illinois, and a range of convictions and mental health findings will disqualify you.⁴

Who Is Disqualified

Any felony conviction bars a FOID card. The Illinois State Police will also deny or revoke the card for convictions for domestic battery, aggravated stalking, or certain drug offenses classified as Class 2 felonies or higher under the Controlled Substances Act, the Methamphetamine Control Act, or the Cannabis Control Act.⁵ A narcotics arrest or conviction within the past year can trigger a disqualification on addiction grounds, and a court or other authority’s determination that you present a clear and present danger due to a mental health condition will do the same.⁴ When a FOID is revoked, you must surrender it and transfer all firearms out of your possession within 48 hours.

Getting a FOID Card Back

There are two paths, and the offense decides which one you take.

For less serious prohibitions, you request administrative relief through the Illinois State Police’s Firearm Card Review Board. Submit your documentation within 60 days of the denial or revocation notice. Filing the paperwork begins the review; it does not guarantee approval.⁶

For more serious offenses, including forcible felonies, domestic battery, aggravated stalking, and higher-level drug felonies, you must petition the circuit court in your county. The court grants relief only if all four statutory conditions are met: at least 20 years have passed since conviction or release from prison, the circumstances suggest you will not be dangerous, relief serves the public interest, and relief would not violate federal law. The state’s attorney must be served at least 30 days before the hearing and may object and present evidence.⁷

A new FOID card costs $10 and is valid for 10 years.⁸ Clearing the state rules is not enough on its own. The court cannot issue an order if you remain prohibited under federal law, which independently bars anyone convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms.⁷

Employment and Professional Licensing

Illinois does not take away your right to work after a conviction, but employers and licensing agencies can factor your record in under specific rules.

Arrest Records

The Illinois Human Rights Act makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to use an arrest record as a basis for refusing to hire, firing, or otherwise discriminating in employment. The protection covers arrests as well as records that have been expunged, sealed, or impounded.⁹

Conviction Records

An employer cannot use a conviction against you unless there is a substantial relationship between the past offense and the job, or hiring you would create an unreasonable risk to property or public safety. “Substantial relationship” means the job would offer the opportunity for the same kind of offense to occur. Even when a conviction is potentially relevant, the employer must weigh how long ago it happened, the number of offenses, the severity and nature of the conviction, the circumstances, your age at the time, and any evidence of rehabilitation.¹⁰

When Employers Can Ask

Under the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, employers cannot ask about your criminal record until after you have been selected for an interview or, if there is no interview, until after a conditional job offer. The law carves out exceptions for positions where state or federal law requires background screening, where a fidelity bond is required and certain offenses would disqualify you from being bonded, and for emergency medical services positions.¹¹

Professional Licenses

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) evaluates license applications from people with criminal records case by case. Most convictions do not automatically disqualify you; the agency considers the type and nature of the conviction and whether you are otherwise qualified.¹² Certain offenses do trigger automatic bars, and each licensed profession publishes its own FAQ explaining which.¹³

Forcible felony convictions get a more formal review. You’ll receive a Notice of Intent to Permanently Deny Licensure, which is not the final word but the first step. You must submit a Petition for Review within 20 days of the mailing date on that notice or lose the chance to challenge it.¹²

Clearing Your Record

Expungement destroys a record. Sealing hides it from the general public while keeping it available to law enforcement and certain government agencies. Either one can meaningfully change what shows up on a background check.

Expungement

Expungement is available for arrests that did not lead to a conviction, convictions that were reversed, vacated, or pardoned by the governor, and successfully completed sentences of court supervision or qualified probation. Most standing misdemeanor and felony convictions cannot be expunged. Waiting periods vary. Arrests without charges and dismissed cases can be expunged at any time. Most supervision cases require a two-year wait from the end of your last sentence. Some supervision offenses, including domestic battery and retail theft, require five years, as does qualified probation for first-time drug offenses.¹⁴

Sealing

Sealing covers a broader range of outcomes, including many misdemeanor and felony convictions that cannot be expunged. Most misdemeanor convictions and felony convictions sentenced to probation or conditional discharge can be sealed three years after your last sentence ends. Supervision-level offenses can typically be sealed after two years. If you earn a GED, high school diploma, associate’s degree, vocational certificate, or bachelor’s degree while serving your sentence or on mandatory supervised release, certain felony records become eligible for sealing immediately upon completing your sentence rather than after the three-year wait.¹⁴

Convictions requiring registration under the Sex Offender Registration Act, the Arsonist Registry Act, or the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act cannot be sealed while you are still required to register.¹⁴

Cannabis Records

Minor cannabis offenses involving 30 grams or less of possession that occurred before June 25, 2019 have their own path. Arrests that did not result in charges, or where charges were dismissed, qualify for automatic expungement by law enforcement without any action on your part. The rollout was staggered by arrest date, with the final batch of pre-2000 arrests scheduled for automatic expungement by January 1, 2025.¹⁵

Cannabis convictions follow a different track. Those records go to the Prisoner Review Board, which can recommend that the governor grant a pardon authorizing expungement. If the governor agrees, the Attorney General files an expungement petition in the county where the conviction occurred.¹⁵

Executive Clemency

When the ordinary restoration paths are closed, the governor’s clemency power is often the last option. The Illinois Constitution gives the governor broad authority to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons after conviction.¹⁶

Clemency comes in several forms. A commutation reduces a prison sentence. A pardon forgives the conviction but does not erase it from your record. To clear the record, you need a pardon with expungement authorization, which lets you file for expungement in court as a separate step. A pardon can also specifically restore or exclude firearm privileges. A pardon with expungement and firearm privileges restores your ability to apply for a FOID card, though approval is not guaranteed.

The process runs through the Prisoner Review Board. You submit a clemency petition, and the Board reviews it for completeness. Incomplete petitions that are not corrected within 90 days are discarded. Once the petition is docketed, you choose a public or non-public hearing. The Board typically sends its recommendation to the governor within 60 days after the hearing. The governor faces no deadline to act. If denied, you must wait at least one year before filing again unless you have compelling new information.¹⁷

Federal Jury Service

Federal law disqualifies anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from grand and petit jury service in federal district court, unless their civil rights have been restored.¹⁸ Because Illinois automatically restores voting rights upon release and does not impose other blanket civil disabilities, whether your rights are considered restored for federal jury purposes can be a fact-specific question. A governor’s pardon provides the clearest resolution.

Challenging a Denial

Each restoration track has its own appeal route, and the deadlines are tight.

If the Illinois State Police denies a FOID application or revokes your card for reasons other than the most serious offenses, you appeal through the Firearm Card Review Board. For offenses requiring court-ordered relief, you petition the circuit court. The court looks at whether substantial justice has been done, weighing time since conviction, rehabilitation, and public safety, and the state’s attorney may present opposing evidence.⁷

If the IDFPR denies or revokes a professional license, you can request an administrative hearing. If the Director’s order is unfavorable, you have 35 days from the date the order was mailed to file for administrative review in the circuit court of the county where you live.¹⁹ That window is strict; missing it generally forecloses judicial review.

If an employer uses your arrest record against you, refuses to apply the conviction evaluation factors, or asks about criminal history before you have been selected for an interview, you can file a charge of discrimination with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which investigates charges involving arrest records, conviction records, and sealed or expunged records in employment.²⁰

1
Illinois General Assembly. 730 ILCS 5/5-5-5 – Loss of Rights
2
FindLaw. Illinois Code 10 ILCS 5/3-5 – Voting Disqualifications
3
Illinois Department of Corrections. Know Your Rights – Voting with a Criminal Record
4
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 65 – Firearm Owners Identification Card Act
5
Illinois State Police. FOID – Court Ordered Relief Required
6
Illinois State Police. FOID Card Review Board – Felony
7
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 65/10 – Appeal to Director and Court
8
Illinois State Police. FOID Frequently Asked Questions
9
Illinois General Assembly. 775 ILCS 5/2-103 – Arrest Record
10
FindLaw. Illinois Code 775 ILCS 5/2-103.1 – Conviction Record
11
Illinois Department of Labor. Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act (Ban the Box)
12
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. FAQs About Criminal Convictions and Professional Counselor Licensure
13
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. IDFPR Conviction and Licensing Information
14
Illinois General Assembly. 20 ILCS 2630/5.2 – Expungement and Sealing
15
Office of the State Appellate Defender. Cannabis Expungement Information and Forms
16
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Constitution Article V – The Executive
17
Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Executive Clemency and Expungement
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service
19
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. FAQs for Administrative Hearings
20
Illinois Department of Human Rights. Employment Charge Information