Record sealing gives Arkansans a way to move forward without a conviction following them through every job application and housing search. A Governor’s pardon does something different: it removes the legal consequences of the conviction itself. For many people, one is not enough without the other.
Many Arkansans researching their options after a criminal conviction assume that expungement and a Governor’s pardon are different names for the same process. They are not. Pursuing the wrong path, or relying on only one when both are needed, can leave significant legal vulnerabilities in place, from public background check exposure to continuing firearms restrictions and professional licensing bars.
Arkansas record sealing: hiding the record from public view
What most people call an expungement in Arkansas is legally record sealing under the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013. When a court grants a sealing petition, the records of the arrest, charge, and conviction are closed to the general public. For standard employment applications, housing screenings, and credit checks, the record no longer appears, and the individual may legally state they have not been convicted of that offense.
Record sealing has important limitations, however. Sealed records are not physically destroyed. They remain fully accessible to law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts. Certain professional licensing boards also retain access through fingerprint-based federal background checks. Sealing a felony record also does not automatically restore federal or state firearms rights.
The Governor’s pardon: restoring rights through executive clemency
A Governor’s pardon is a separate legal mechanism entirely. Granted by the Governor of Arkansas under state constitutional authority, a pardon does not seal or delete a record. The conviction remains visible in the state’s central repository. What a pardon does is officially forgive the offense and restore specific civil rights that the conviction removed.
A pardon is the primary tool for restoring Second Amendment rights. A specific clemency track allows the Governor to explicitly restore firearms rights, subject to local law enforcement recommendations. A pardon also removes statutory bars that block convicted individuals from obtaining certain occupational licenses. Notably, in Arkansas, voting rights are restored automatically upon full discharge of a sentence, including probation and parole, without requiring a pardon. Jury service rights, however, typically require a full pardon to restore.
When you may need both
Because sealing hides a record without restoring rights, and a pardon restores rights without hiding the record, a coordinated two-step approach is sometimes the most effective strategy. Securing a pardon first to address rights restoration, followed by a court petition to seal the pardoned record from public view, can provide a more comprehensive result than either mechanism alone.
An Arkansas criminal attorney with experience in both record sealing and clemency proceedings can evaluate which approach, or combination of approaches, fits the specific circumstances and goals of the individual.