We do offer payments plans if you cannot afford the entire fee upfront. You will need to pay us half of the retainer upfront, which can be cash, check, or credit card. As far as the payment plan, we can do payments as low as $150.00 per month on your balance and we will need a credit card on file. You can pick the date of the month you wish for the payment to come out and the payments would automatically be scheduled. We would enter into a payment agreement with you and you would be required to sign the same.

The State of Connecticut guidelines to be eligible to file for a Pardon/Expungement Application are as follows:

Three Years Post Conviction for a Misdemeanor
Five Years Post Conviction for a Felony

Once you decide to hire our firm, we estimate that it will take 4-6 weeks for us to obtain the criminal report from the State. In order for us to obtain this report, you will be required to have your fingerprints done at your local Police Department and provide them to us. The quicker you provide this information to us the quicker we can request your criminal history and proceed. After that process, there are personal documents that you will need to provide to us. Once we have all of the required information from you, we will proceed to drafting your application and preparing to submit to the Board of Pardons.

Personal documents we will need to attach to your application are as follows:
– Copy of Driver’s License
– Current Resume
– Copies of any Schooling Records, Transcripts, Diplomas and/or Certificates
– Copy of Current Pay Stub
– W2 from previous year
– Counseling records for any types of treatment or counseling

You can provide our office with copies of paperwork that you may have already, however, our office will request the paperwork needed from Police Departments and the Court.

The Board of Pardons requires a minimum of three references be submitted with your application; however, we recommend you submit five if possible.

The Board only allows one family member to complete a reference form on your behalf.

Your reference is allowed to write their own letter however, they must also complete and sign the State of Connecticut Reference Form and then attach their letter to it.

Please be sure that any person that completes a reference form on your behalf knows of all your convictions in that the Board may contact them for verification. Once we obtain your criminal history we will forward the information to you so that you can advise your references of the exact wording of charges to be listed on the form. This is important in that your convictions must match what is on the reference form.

You will be required to provide the name, address and phone number of the victim, if information is know. You are not allowed to contact the victim for any reason. We have no way of knowing for sure if the Board will contact the victim directly; however, it is a possibility and solely up to the Board.

Yes, based on your relationship with the victim, they are allowed to complete a reference form if they are willing.

You cannot pick and chose which convictions you wish to file a pardon for. When you file for a pardon, it will be for all of your convictions in the State of Connecticut.

There is a question on the application that asks if you will be applying for a gun permit. We recommend that you answer this question truthfully if it is something you are interested in pursuing. This fact may or may not affect your application. There is a possibility that the Board may want to grant you a pardon, with the exception that you do not apply for a gun permit. We have no way of knowing whether this would be the case, in that it will depend on what type of convictions you have and what they involve.

If you have out of state convictions, you will need to seek an attorney in that state to see if you are eligible to file for a pardon. We are licensed to handle cases involving a pardon application for people that have convictions in the State of Connecticut. Please note, we will be required to disclose any out of state conviction you may have.

Once our firm submits your pardon application to the Board, the timeframe is out of our control and will now be based on the Board’s schedule, which can vary. Currently, from the time we are submitting an application, it can take approximately from 6-12 months for your case to reach the docket due to a back-log of applications at the Board.

By submitting an application to the Board, it is not guaranteed that you will receive a pardon. Once your application reaches the docket, your case will be calendared for a pre-screen. A pre-screen is an internal hearing done at the Board where we do not appear. At this pre-screen, your case will be reviewed by a panel of Board members to determine whether your case will be approved for a full hearing. There are no guarantees that you will be approved for a full hearing or a pardon. If your case gets approved for the full hearing, we will appear with you at that hearing in attempts at getting your pardon application approved.

If you get denied by the Board, they will send us a letter indicating that you were denied and the reasoning for the denial. At that point we would give you our recommendations based on the reasoning and proceed from there. Once an Application is denied, you have a one-year waiting period from the denial date to re-apply. If you wish to re-apply, our firm will provide representation however, we charge an administrative fee in that the Application will need to re-done and all of the paperwork will need to be re-submitted.

If your case is approved for a Full Hearing, you will need to be present at the Hearing. Our representation includes your Attorney preparing you prior to the Hearing and being present with you at the Hearing.

There are approximately nine or 10 hearings per year. Your hearing will take place at a courthouse and the locations will vary. The following towns are listed as locations for the hearings: Waterbury, Hartford, Norwalk, Stamford, Milford, Danbury, Middletown and Enfield. We would not know which courthouse your hearing would take place at until your case reached the docket. We would then be notified by the Board.

You are allowed to bring family members with you to your hearing for support, however, the court rooms can be small and therefore, they will allow petitioners and attorneys in first and then if there is room your family members are welcome to enter.

Once a case reaches Full Hearing status, the Board would send a letter out within 1 week of the Hearing date with the results.

If you are granted for a full pardon, the last step of the process would be obtaining the “Certificate of Pardon”. Once a case is approved the Board for a full pardon, they will proceed to erasing/expunging your criminal history. This process involves erasing/expunging your criminal records from all computer programs that the state of Connecticut controls. This includes local law enforcement. It does not include private commercial databases that retain conviction information. This process can take up to 6-8 months approximately per the Board. Once they have completed this process, they will forward an original “Certificate of Pardon”. Once you are in receipt of said “Certificate” you can truthfully say that you have never been arrested and that you do not have a criminal history.