New York State Department of State Respites and Commutations

Chronological by date of respite of commutation.

This series consists of five bound volumes of printed copies (with blanks filled in by hand) of respites and commutations, and one folder of original requests for respites by the governor to the secretary of state, under the provision of the state's constitution. The governor was granted the authority to grant pardons and respites. The respites concern stays of execution for individuals sentenced to death. Capital commutations are reductions of sentences from death to life imprisonment, while commutations are reductions of sentences. The respites and commutations normally include the name of the convicted felon, crime, date, court, original sentence, commutation and place of incarceration.

The entire series is digitized as part of a larger collection of Executive Clemency records available to New York State residents for free on Ancestry.com New York. You must sign up for a free account to access these records without a paid subscription. To learn more, go to How to Use Ancestry.com New York

13253, Executive pardons, respites, commutations, restorations of citizenship, and certificates contains records related to executive clemency.

B1201 Name index to executive pardons, respites, commutations, restorations of citizenship and certificates of good conduct contains records related to executive clemency.

B0042 Executive pardons contains records related to executive clemency.

B0046 Executive restorations of citizenship rights contains records related to executive clemency.

B0049 Executive orders for commutations, pardons, restorations, and respites, contains records related to executive clemency.

Indexes are available for all volumes except volume one.

Volume list is available at the repository.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.