Governor Laura Kelly today announced that she commuted the sentences of five incarcerated individuals and granted pardons to three individuals, all of whom showed strong signs of rehabilitation and the ability to safely re-enter society. The decision to grant the commutations and pardons was made following independent reviews by the Prison Review Board, Department of Administration, and the Governor’s legal team.
“We reviewed many applications, and, after a thorough determination process, these individuals met a clear set of criteria that demonstrates they have paid their debts to society,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Using the clemency power is not something I take lightly, nor is it the solution to the systemic issues in our criminal justice system. Instead, we’ll keep working towards commonsense reforms to save taxpayers money and offer pathways to prevent crime and to keep people out of the system in the first place.”
Governor Kelly took into consideration numerous factors to determine if clemency was warranted including, but not limited to: the nature of the offense (including whether it is a non-violent drug possession involving marijuana), demonstration of rehabilitation, whether the crime had a victim and if so, the victim’s input, minimal criminal history, minimal disciplinary issues in prison, and strong indicators of success upon release.
Article 1, Section 7 of the Kansas Constitution and K.S.A. § 22-3701 grants the Governor’s authority to grant clemency. Below please find the list of individuals receiving clemencies:
JOSEPH AGRILLO, commutation
CHIVONDA HALL, pardon
DOMINIC HOLDER, commutation
JOSEPH A. JONES, commutation
XUAN HIEP LE, pardon
MICHAEL MCCLOUD, commutation
LOREN THIBODO, commutation
JOSHUA TOWNSEND, pardon
By law, clemency applications in Kansas must be submitted to the Prisoner Review Board. The Board reviews all applications and creates a clemency file before forwarding the application on for further review. Additional information about the process can be found at the Board’s website: https://www.doc.ks.gov/prb
The Governor’s Office encourages victims and survivors to reach out to the Office of Victim Services, which provides confidential support and information to victims, survivors, or witnesses to a crime. Information can be found here or by phone at 866-404-6732.