Last updated:  June 9, 2020 

I.  Loss & restoration of civil/firearms rights

A.  Civil Rights

Puerto Rico’s constitution provides that “[s]uspension of civil rights including the right to vote shall cease upon service of the term of imprisonment imposed.”  P.R. Const. art. II, § 12.  According to the Puerto Rico Board of Parole, the Governor of Puerto Rico has taken the position since the early 1980’s that the right to vote during imprisonment has not been suspended, so that prisoners may vote.  In any event, all civil rights are automatically reestablished once a person has served their sentence, without any intervention on the part of the Governor.  Executive clemency remains limited to eliminating the collateral consequences that exist independently of a convicted person’s civil and political rights, including obtaining license to practice certain professions, driver’s license impairment, carrying of weapons, etc..   1960 P.R. Op. Sec’y Justice No. 33.

B.  Firearms

Firearms rights are lost upon conviction of a felony, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 25, § 456j.  Firearms rights may be restored by executive pardon, P.R. Const. art. IV, § 4 (local violations only); or by judicial expungement (referred to as “elimination”) five years after completion of sentence.  P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 34, § 1725a-2. 

II.  Pardon policy & practice

A.  Authority

The governor alone has authority to pardon violations of local law.  P.R. Const. art. IV, § 4.  He is required to keep a record of all pardons and “official signatures and recommendations in favor of each application.”  P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 3, § 10(1).  The Parole Board may make non-binding advisory recommendations to Governor.

B.  Eligibility

There are no formal eligibility restrictions, but informal policy of recent governors has imposed a five-year waiting period following completion of sentence.  The governor’s pardon power does not extend to federal offenses.  P.R. Const. art. IV, § 4.

C.  Effect

A grant of full pardon “erases forever” a conviction.  1960 P.R. Op. Sec’y Justice No. 33.  The pardon document by its terms “eliminates” the conviction from police and court records. 

D.  Process

The pardon process is administered by the Puerto Rico Board of Parole.  See http://www.jlbp.gobierno.pr/.  See also http://www2.pr.gov/agencias/jlbp/Documents/Clemencias/PROCEDIMIENTO%20PARA%20SOLICITARCLE.pdf (Spanish-language description of the executive clemency process).  An English-language application form can be found at http://www.cjpf.org/old/clemency/PuertoRicoApp2.pdf.  The Corrections Department makes recommendation to the Parole Board, which in turn makes recommendation to the governor.  See also P.R Laws Ann. tit. 3, § 292n (Secretary of Justice must investigate and report to governor on all applications for pardon and commutation referred to him).  There is no hearing and the process usually takes about one year.

E.  Frequency of grants

Fewer pardon applications have been filed since the expungement law was expanded in 2005.  See Part III. 

Pardon grants by year (Source: Parole Board) 

F.  Contact

Ana T. Dávila Laó Chair, Puerto Rico Board of Parole P.O. Box 40945 Minillas Station San Juan, Puerto Rico 00940 PH: 787-754-8115, ext. 4232 Adavila@jlbp.gobierno.pr

Evelyn Lopez-Cuevas elopez@jlbp.gobierno.pr

III.  Expungement, sealing & other record relief

A.  Expungement

Courts have broad expungement authority applicable to all misdemeanors and felonies under P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 34, § 1725a-1 et seq. (Chapter 118 is entitled “Criminal Records Certificates”). 

The Puerto Rico Police Department is authorized to issue a “Criminal Record Certificate” containing record of convictions and open cases.  P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 34, § 1725.  Any person convicted of any felony (except “those subject to the Register of Persons Convicted for Violent Sexual Crimes and Abuse of Minors [or] to the Register of Persons Convicted for Corruption”) may apply to the “Court of First Instance” (trial court) to issue an order for the “elimination” of the conviction record from the Criminal Record Certificate five years after completion of sentence, during which no further crimes have been committed, if “the person has a good reputation within the community” and the person has been subjected to providing a DNA sample, if required to do so.   § 1725a-2.  Misdemeanors are eligible for this relief six months after completion of sentence, without any requirement of providing a DNA sample.  § 1725a-1.  Appeal of the decisions of the trial court is provided for in § 1725a-3.   

B.  Certification of Rehabilitation for Prison Inmates

In addition to § 1725a, the new penal code authorizes the Secretary of Corrections to a file motion with the court in which he may certify that a person who has been released on parole has been rehabilitated, and the court may consider declaring the sentence fully served.  P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 4, § 1615.  See § 1611 et seq. (“Constitutional Mandate for Rehabilitation”).  The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must supply a psychological evaluation and recommendation stating that the convicted person is “qualified to live freely in the community at large.”  § 1615.  The Secretary of Justice and victim may respond, and the court may then issue a certificate attesting to rehabilitation, “duly justified by means of an evaluation of the overall adjustment and social behavior of the inmate during his/her confinement in compliance with the rehabilitation plan.”  Id.  If the court rules in favor of the rehabilitation certification, it shall “direct the Police Superintendent not to include the conviction into the Criminal Record Certificate, but to maintain it in the history of the convict solely for recidivism purposes.”  Id.

C.  Contact

Alexis Bird Department of Corrections Legal Counsel’s Office 787-224-8103 Comments

Comment

In Puerto Rico’s hotly contested elections, the prisoner vote (including prisoner families) is considered very important (represents 50,000 votes). 

IV.  Criminal record in employment & licensing

N/A