A Lehigh County program that helps indigent nonviolent offenders wipe their criminal records clean could get a boost in the 2027 budget.
Chief Public Defender Kimberly Makoul appeared before the county commissioners during Wednesday’s budget hearing seeking $63,541 to turn the part-time pardon coordinator position into a full-time job. Lehigh is the only county in the state that funds a pardon coordinator within the public defender’s office.
The funding increase would cover both the coordinator’s salary and benefits. In her pitch for the increase, Makoul pointed to studies which showed that persons who attain pardons increase their earning power 25% in two years and make a positive impact on their local economy.
“To help those people get pardons is a fiscally sound decision because we’re helping those people become better earners. They are able to patronize businesses within our county, they are able to purchase homes, which means they are able to pay taxes,” Makoul said.
So far, the program has identified 156 qualified candidates, and one person has been granted a pardon. It can take more than five years to get an audience before the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, which sends recommendations for pardons to the governor.
Makoul said there has been an increase in applicants this year, as more people learn about the project through her office’s community outreach efforts.
“The word is getting out,” she said. “To do the service the way it needs to be done, we need to turn that position into a full-time position.”
Commissioner Phillips Armstrong, who was county executive when the Pardon Project started, noted that people who have been granted pardons have historically low recidivism rates.
“There’s not too many programs that can say that 98% of the time, these people don’t end up back in jail,” Armstrong said.
There are several laws on the books to help people with criminal pasts reenter society.
In 2019, Pennsylvania became the first state to pass a Clean Slate Law, which automatically hid millions of criminal records from public view. In 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an update, Clean Slate 3.0, which expanded the law to seal nonviolent drug and property felonies after 10 years without a new crime.
However, while Clean Slate hides crimes from much of the public, only a pardon can erase records that may hinder a person from getting a job or being approved for housing, Makoul said.
There are two more hearings scheduled before the budget, which calls for a 17% tax increase, is voted on in late October.