This series consists of applications for pardon, parole, and restoration of civil rights together with supporting documentation. Prior to 1897, applications for clemency were handled directly by the governor. Beginning in 1897, a new three-member prison commission investigated applications and made recommendations to the governor for clemency. In 1943, a constitutional amendment transferred the authority to grant clemency to the Board of Pardons and Paroles which had been created by the General Assembly earlier that year. This series, which contains records up to 1942, includes applications from the prisoner for executive clemency; trial transcripts; legal briefs; affidavits; summaries and graphs of evidence; petitions from the public for and against clemency; correspondence and memoranda; monthly reports of prison officials to the Prison Commission; parole reports to the Prison Commission; medical evaluations of prisoners; telegrams; newspaper clippings; rap sheets; arrest warrants; and photographs.