Although Gov. Tony Evers issues pardons, it's not easy to obtain one: dropping in on a pardon advisory board hearing

By Alexandria Staubach
 
Gov. Tony Evers has pardoned more individuals than any other governor in recent history.
 
He has granted a total of 1,436 pardons, which exceeds the total of the next closest official, Gov. Julis P. Heil (1939-1943), by nearly 500. Evers issued 300 pardons in 2024 alone.
 
Evers’ predecessor, former Gov. Scott Walker, granted zero pardons in his eight-year term and even disbanded the pardon board.
 
Although Evers revived the pardon advisory board, the board is not exactly giving clemency away. For some perspective, in 2018 as many as 1.4 million Wisconsinites had criminal records that may hinder gainful employment, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
 
The pardon advisory board conducts hearings quarterly by Zoom.
 
The board currently has eight members, including Evers’ chief legal counsel, Mel Barnes, who serves as board chair; Attorney General Josh Kaul’s appointee, Judge Jeffrey Kremers; and Cindy O’Donnell.
 
Kremers served as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge for 26 years, with seven years as chief judge. O’Donnell served as deputy secretary of the Department of Corrections under Govs. Tommy Thompson, Scott McCallum, and James Doyle.
 
Other board members include Anthony Cooper, Sr., head of an organization working to address violent crime, who served time in prison and was pardoned by Evers in 2021; Rev. Jerry Hancock, a former public defender who now works in prison ministry; Nadya Pérez-Reyes, a former public defender now serving as deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families; Myrna Warrington, director of vocational rehabilitation on the Menominee reservation; and former City of Madison Police Chief Noble Wray.
 
However, at last week’s board hearing Barnes was joined by only Kremers and O’Donnell. The hearing covered 26 pardon petitions.
 
One individual seeking a pardon, Tommy Kirk, Jr., who was originally fifth in line for his hearing, sat through three hours of proceedings because Kremers recused himself from hearing Kirk’s case. Without Kremers, the board lacked a sufficient number of members to hear Kirk.
 
The board kept Kirk on the line waiting for another member to appear, but no one else showed up. Kirk eventually had to return to work. Before leaving, he made his case without a sufficient number of board members present to vote on his pardon application.
 
For many petitioners this was their first application, but some had applications denied previously.
 
A majority of board members must vote in favor of a petitioner for a recommendation to go the governor.
 
Anyone who committed a felony in Wisconsin more than five years ago, has completed all confinement and supervision, has no pending criminal cases in any jurisdiction, and is not currently required to register as a sex offender is eligible for a pardon.
 
But while the technical requirements to receive a pardon are minimal, the governor also requires those seeking a pardon to fill out an 11-page application, which asks about all law enforcement contact, ever, and requires applicants to rehash their crimes “in detail” and explain why the pardon should be granted. Applicants must also pay to obtain certified copies of all court records and authorize the state to do a background check. Letters of recommendation from people who can attest to an individual’s changed ways are given heavy weight.
 
Comments and questions from board members at last week’s hearing suggest that significantly more than mere eligibility is expected, and that near model behavior is required.
 
“For me, pardon is an extraordinary measure,” said O’Donnell to more than one petitioner.
 
Benjamin Zimmer described in detail at the hearing how he purchased one ounce of marijuana at house party in 2012. Zimmer described having to quit nursing school but completing his probation and 100 hours of community service on time and a lack of further encounters with law enforcement in the 13 years since. He listed a host of subsequent accomplishments, from owning his own contracting business to becoming a leading volunteer in his community. According to a letter described by O’Donnell at the hearing, Zimmer even had the support of the judge who originally sentenced him. Nevertheless, Zimmer has been denied previously.
 
Zimmer wasn’t the only individual seeking a pardon for old marijuana crimes. Christopher Teed also described buying one ounce of marijuana at a house party when he was 17—a crime followed by probation revocation and two years in prison.