Clemency Board Waiver Authority Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2026

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A RESOLUTION

26-303

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

January 6, 2026

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend section 205 of the
Clemency Board Establishment Act of 2018 to authorize the Clemency Board to, for
applicants seeking a pardon, grant a waiver of the 5-year waiting period.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Clemency Board Waiver Authority Emergency Declaration
Resolution of 2026”.

Sec. 2. (a) The Clemency Board (“Board”) was established in 2018 to determine whether,
upon application, to recommend that the President of the United States grant clemency to
applicants convicted of D.C. Code offenses.
(b) The Clemency Board Establishment Act of 2018, effective December 13, 2018 (D.C.
Law 22-197; D.C. Official Code § 24-481.01 et seq.) (the “Act”), which established both the
Board and the process by which applicants may seek a letter of recommendation from the Board,
was deliberately structured by the Council to mirror the eligibility requirements and generally the
process used by the Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney (“DOJ-OPA”) for
accepting and reviewing applications for clemency. Having the language of the Act mirror the
federal process helps the Board avoid inadvertently deeming an application ineligible that is in
fact eligible under DOJ-OPA’s rules.
(c) Currently, under section 205(c)(1) of the Act (D.C. Official Code § 24-481.05), to be
eligible for a letter of recommendation from the Board, an applicant must wait 5 years after the
date of their release from confinement or, in cases where no prison sentence was imposed, 5
years after the date of the conviction. This statutory language mirrors DOJ-OPA’s eligibility
criteria, which also sets a 5-year waiting period for pardon applicants.
(d) Board staff have recently learned, however, that the DOJ-OPA is authorized to grant
waivers of this 5-year waiting period, pursuant to § 9-140.112 of the Department of Justice
Manual. The Act, as passed by Council in 2018, however, did not provide the Board with similar
authority to grant a waiver of this requirement.
(e) The Board recently received applications from applicants who have received a waiver
of the 5-year waiting period from DOJ-OPA; however, absent legislation amending the Act, the
Board lacks the authority to grant its own waiver and these and other applications will be deemed
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ineligible for a letter of recommendation, despite being actively considered by the DOJ-OPA and
the President.
(f) Thus, emergency legislation would amend the Act to authorize the Board to consider
an applicant’s request for a waiver of the 5-year waiting period where the DOJ-OPA has already
granted a similar waiver. Absent these changes, several applications before the Board that could
be considered by the President in the coming months will be ineligible for a letter of
recommendation from the Board, potentially negatively impacting those applicants’ applications
for clemency.

Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances
enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the
Clemency Board Waiver Authority Emergency Amendment Act of 2026 be adopted after a
single reading.

Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.