Gov. Evers re-forms Wisconsin pardons board Walker dropped

By SCOTT BAUER
June 13, 2019

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers re-created Wisconsin’s pardons board on Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise to again consider granting pardons after his Republican predecessor, Scott Walker, halted the process eight years ago.

Evers, a Democrat, is putting his own mark on the process, declining to consider commutation of prison sentences as previous governors did and instituting a new restriction making people on the sex offender registry ineligible.

“I believe in forgiveness and the power of redemption,” Evers said in a statement announcing his signing of an executive order creating the board. “People who have taken responsibility for their mistakes and who have worked to improve their lives and communities deserve a second chance.”

Evers campaigned on the promise of re-starting the pardon board, but it took him six months to get it done. The state constitution gives the governor the power to grant pardons, so Evers doesn’t need approval from the Republican-controlled Legislature, which so far has blocked most of his agenda.

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