The Prison Policy Initiative provides reports on prison statistics and guidance on how to access data:

How can I get data on the commutation process in my state?

When seeking data on the commutation process in your state, the first step will be to check whether the information is already available on a state government website, such as the website of a state Board of Pardons.

However, few of the states in our survey posted data about their commutation processes online... So more likely than not, you will need to submit a public records request. In order to effectively craft the request, you should first determine the answers to several questions:

First, how does the commutation process work in your state? To understand this, you’ll want to examine what agencies and actors are involved in your state’s clemency process and ask yourself:

• Does a board or agency receive applications and make any unilateral decisions (such as to close applications, hold hearings, or recommend applicants for clemency)?

• Does the governor hold the power to grant or deny commutation applications independently, or only on a recommendation from a specified board or agency?

• Does someone other than the governor have the power to grant commutation applications?

Answering these questions will help you determine who is likely to hold the answers to each of your questions. This will allow you to determine where to send records requests, and whether you’re going to have to send requests to multiple agencies or offices.

Second, what do you want to know? For example, are you trying to understand:

• What happens from the point an application is submitted until a final determination is made?

• How many people are applying for commutation?

• Where are applications getting stopped in the process?

• How many applications are automatically closed?

• What percentage of applications are granted?

• Are there are common characteristics (i.e., age, sex, race, crime of conviction) shared by people whose commutation applications are — or are not — successful?

• The average time it takes, after an application is submitted, until a final determination is made?

Once you know how the commutation process works in your state and have decided what questions you want answered, you’ll have to decide how many years worth of data you want.

While the exact questions asked in a records request will vary by state and need to be adjusted based on the questions you are seeking to answer, your request might potentially ask for data that provides, or information that would allow you to determine:

• From [year] to present, by month and year, the number of:

  • requests for commutation of sentence;

  • requests for commutation of sentence that were administratively closed;

  • requests for commutation of sentence that were withdrawn;

  • requests for commutation of sentence that were denied a hearing;

  • requests for commutation of sentence that received a hearing and were denied;

  • requests for commutation that received a hearing and a positive recommendation that a commutation be granted; and

  • commutations granted.

• If no commutations have been granted since [year], the most recent date of the last commutation granted.

• For each of the requests above, demographic data (gender, race, age), as well as the category of offense for which the person requesting a commutation was convicted.