§572.4. Board of Pardons; rules, regulations, and procedures; notice; restrictions on applications; time periods for additional review

            A. Written rules, regulations and procedures for consideration or clemency applications shall be adopted by the Board of Pardons by January 1, 1980. Such rules, regulations, and procedures shall be adopted in accordance with the procedures of R.S. 49:961(A)(1) and (2) and shall become effective upon approval of the governor.

            B.(1) Before considering the application for pardon or commutation of sentence of any person, the board shall give written notice of the date and time at which the application will be heard and considered, at least ninety days prior to the hearing, to the following:

            (a) The attorney general, the district attorney, the sheriff of the parish in which the applicant was convicted, and in Orleans Parish, the superintendent of police.

            (b) The applicant.

            (c) The victim or the spouse or next of kin of a deceased victim. The notice is not required when the victim, or the spouse or next of kin of a deceased victim, advises the board in writing that such notification is not desired. The notice shall advise the victim, or the spouse or next of kin of a deceased victim, of their rights with regard to the hearing.

            (d) Any other interested person on whose behalf a written request for such notification has been made by any other person who has a right, under law, to present testimony.

            (2) The victim, or the spouse or next of kin of a deceased victim, shall be allowed to testify at the hearing. The victim, or the spouse or next of kin of a deceased victim, shall be allowed to testify directly, or in rebuttal to testimony or evidence offered by or on behalf of the offender, or both.

            (3) The attorney general, the district attorney, and any other persons who desire to do so shall be given a reasonable opportunity to attend the meeting and be heard.

            C. Before setting a hearing on an application for pardon or commutation of sentence, notice of application to the board for pardon or commutation of sentence shall be published on three separate days within a thirty-day period of time, without cost to the state, in any newspaper recognized, at any time during the six-month period prior to or following the publication of the first notice, as the official journal of the governing authority of the parish where the offense occurred for which the person was convicted.

            D.(1) Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, any applicant who has been sentenced to life imprisonment shall not be eligible to apply to the board for a pardon or commutation of sentence for a period of fifteen years after being sentenced by the trial court, except that periods of time prior to the imposition of the sentence in which the defendant was in actual custody for the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment shall be included in computing the fifteen-year period.

            (2) Any applicant who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for an offense that is either a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) or a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541 shall not be eligible to apply to the board for a pardon or commutation of sentence for a period of twenty-five years after being sentenced by the trial court, except that periods of time prior to the imposition of the sentence in which the defendant was in actual custody for the offense for which the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment shall be included in computing the twenty-five-year period. A person who is serving a life sentence resulting from a commutation of a sentence of death shall not thereafter be eligible to apply for commutation of sentence to a specific number of years.

            (3) If the application is denied, the applicant shall be notified in writing of the reason for the denial and thereafter may file a new application to the board no earlier than five years from the date of action by the board. Any subsequent applications shall not be filed earlier than five years after the immediately preceding action taken by the board.

            (4) The provisions of this Subsection shall not apply when the board determines that new and material evidence that, notwithstanding the exercise of reasonable diligence by the applicant, was not discovered before or during his trial, is available, and if it had been introduced at the trial, it would probably have changed the verdict or judgment of guilty.

            E.(1) When no action is taken by the governor for pardon or commutation of sentence issued by the board, the person seeking pardon or commutation of sentence shall be required to reapply to the board, and the recommendation shall expire upon the governor leaving office or upon the expiration of the governor's term.

            (2) The board shall adopt rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act to provide for the provisions of this Subsection.

            F. The board shall, to the extent feasible, schedule hearings for pardon or commutation of sentence in the order in which the applications are filed.

            G. When the board notifies the governor that it has granted a favorable recommendation of an application for pardon or commutation of sentence, the board shall also provide simultaneous notice to the persons listed in Subsection B of this Section that this favorable recommendation has been sent to the governor for his approval.

            Acts 1975, No. 593, §2, eff. July 1, 1975; Acts 1979, No. 490, §1; Acts 1986, No. 402, §1; Acts 1986, No. 369, §1; Acts 1988, No. 381, §1; Acts 1990, No. 535, §1; Acts 1997, No. 822, §1; Acts 1997, No. 828, §1; Acts 1999, No. 448, §§1, 2; Acts 2004, No. 331, §1; Acts 2014, No. 6, §1; Acts 2017, No. 267, §1; Acts 2018, No. 561, §1; Acts 2024, No. 660, §1.