Gubernatorial pardons increase under Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, but commuted sentences remain rare

DES MOINES — Far more Iowans are receiving pardons from Gov. Kim Reynolds than her predecessor, but reduced sentences remain rare, a search of state records by The Gazette shows.

Reynolds, a Republican, has granted 55 pardons since taking office in 2017, all of them from 2019 to 2023, according to state records.

Totals for 2024 and 2025 will be published next year.

Those 55 pardons issued by Reynolds are more than double the pardons that previous Gov. Terry Branstad, also a Republican, issued over roughly the same period of time during his second stint in the office. Branstad issued just 26 pardons between taking office in 2011 and April of 2017; a month later he became U.S. ambassador to China.

A pardon forgives an individual for a crime committed and restores the person’s lost rights.

A commutation reduces an individual's sentence and makes the person eligible for parole.

“(People) have to understand that pardons are often a difficult decision made by a governor,” said Roger Rigg, professor emeritus of law at Drake University whose areas of expertise include criminal law. “They have to be careful about granting (pardons) and commutations. …

“I am surprised about her lack of commutations. I think that would be an easier sell politically than a pardon. But I don’t know the facts and circumstances of all the cases.”

The Gazette reached out to Reynolds’ office last week to learn more about her process for considering requests for pardons and commutations but did not receive a response.

In Iowa, a pardon, which can be granted only by the governor, restores all of an individual’s rights that were lost due to a criminal conviction, including the rights to vote, hold public office, and possess a firearm. A pardon relieves the individual from any further punishment imposed for that conviction.

A pardon does not erase the individual’s conviction from the record. Even after a pardon, the conviction will appear on a criminal background sheet.

After granting no pardons in her first year-plus in office, Reynolds granted 11 in 2019 and 2020, 25 in 2021 and 2022, and 19 in 2022 and 2023.

Pardons and commutations are reported by the governor’s office biennially.

“I am surprised at the number of pardons that she has in there. Which, if you’re a criminal defense lawyer, gives you some degree of hope. Or if you’re a pardon attorney, gives you some degree of hope,” Rigg said.

As for why Reynolds may have issued more pardons since 2019, Rigg said, “The answer to that question is you’d have to ask Gov. Reynolds.”

A 2017 review of state records by the Lee Enterprises Des Moines Bureau found that Branstad during his second stint as governor granted fewer pardons on average than any other Iowa governor dating back to 1949, a span covering 11 administrations.

Commutations remain rare in Iowa

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While Reynolds has granted far more pardons than Branstad, she has maintained her predecessor’s reluctance to reduce sentences by granting commutation requests.

Reynolds had commuted no sentences since becoming governor through 2023, according to state records.

“You can sort of see that if it’s a commutation where they’re getting let out early, or their sentence is changing, that maybe, especially on the Republican side, the governors don’t really want to do that,” said Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa.

“They want to say, ‘OK, the judicial system said this,’ and unless there’s something flat out unconstitutional about it, or a more serious problem, where they would actually go to the pardon stage, that they’ll just let the person serve the time,” Hagle said. “So I guess that’s not entirely surprising.”

Branstad commuted 38 sentences in 2012, but those came shortly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling determined life sentences without the possibility of parole for minors were unconstitutional. Branstad that year commuted 38 such sentences in Iowa to 60-year sentences.

But Branstad commuted no other sentences during his second stint as governor, from 2011 to 2017.

“I’ve always tried to be very thoughtful and very judicious in making these decisions. The governor is given the extraordinary power of being able to grant pardons,” Branstad told the Lee Bureau in 2017.

Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat whose lone term covered 2007 to 2010, approved an average of nearly 24 pardons per year, according to the Lee Bureau’s 2017 research. His predecessor and fellow Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack, who held the office for two terms from 1999 to 2006, approved more than 12 pardons per year. Gov. Robert Ray, a Republican under whom Branstad served as lieutenant governor, granted nearly a dozen pardons per year on average, according to the Lee Bureau.

Culver commuted no sentences, Vilsack granted seven commutations during his eight years in office, and Ray commuted an average of two per year during his 14 years in office, according to the Lee Bureau.

Rigg said pardons and commutations are often political.

“I’m a bit surprised that people always remark, ‘Pardons or commutations shouldn’t be political.’ Well, guess what: they always are and always have been,” Rigg said. “It dates back to Richard Nixon. His pardon by (President) Gerald Ford probably cost Ford the (1976) election.

“The bottom line here is, it ultimately is going to be the governor’s choice and call in terms of what to do or what not to do in terms of commutations or pardons.”

Voting and gun ownership rights restored

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Reynolds has been even more generous restoring Iowans’ voting and firearm ownership rights.

Reynolds has restored the voting rights of thousands of Iowans after pushing for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would have automatically restored the right to vote of all Iowans who complete their sentences. That proposal failed in the Republican-led Iowa Legislature, so Reynolds has been using her gubernatorial authority.

Reynolds restored the voting rights of more than 1,100 Iowans from 2017 to 2020, according to state records. Since August of 2020, Reynolds has restored those rights on a rolling, daily basis, her office said in a recent state report.

Reynolds also has been much more willing to grant Iowans’ requests to have their firearm possession rights restored than Branstad was. Reynolds had approved 114 such requests through 2023, while Branstad approved only roughly 20 such requests from 2011 to 2017.

Iowans whose firearm possession rights have been revoked due to a criminal conviction can apply to have those rights restored five years after they have completed their sentence. Iowans convicted of forcible felonies — including but not limited to murder, sexual abuse, human trafficking and child endangerment — are not eligible under state law to have their firearm possession rights restored by the governor.

However, a federal appeals court on Wednesday in a case involving an Iowa City man ruled that the Iowa governor’s power to issue pardons comes directly from the Iowa Constitution and thus should not be limited by state law.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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