Also known as: certificate of rehabilitation · certificates of rehab · certificate of rehab · rehabilitation certificate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal judicial or administrative order recognizing that a convicted person has been rehabilitated and restoring civil rights or removing disabilities. Under the governing evidence rule, the certificate bars admission of the underlying conviction to impeach a witness's character for truthfulness when the person has incurred no later conviction punishable by death or more than one year of imprisonment.
Luis testifies in a products liability trial. Fifteen years earlier he was convicted of felony embezzlement. After completing probation a court issued him a certificate restoring his civil rights based on rehabilitation. He has no later felony convictions. The opposing party offers the conviction to attack his credibility. The court excludes the evidence because the certificate satisfies the rehabilitation exception.
A defendant completes probation and petitions under state law for relief from disabilities. The court sets aside the guilty plea, enters a not guilty plea, and dismisses the case after finding rehabilitation. The defendant later seeks to vote. The restoration order removes the conviction's disqualifying effect for that purpose.
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The certificate bars impeachment when it rests on an express finding of rehabilitation and the witness has no later conviction punishable by death or more than one year of imprisonment. The rule treats the formal determination as erasing the conviction's value for attacking credibility.
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No. Only a later conviction punishable by death or imprisonment exceeding one year lifts the bar. A $500 fine with no jail exposure leaves the certificate's protection intact.
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No. A foreign presidential pardon reciting rehabilitation and no subsequent serious conviction triggers the same exclusion as a domestic certificate.
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The order still qualifies if it contains an express rehabilitation finding supported by evidence such as restitution and community service. The presence of additional grounds does not remove the bar.
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…of a felony who was incarcerated may file, any time after his release from custody, a notice of intention to apply for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. It further provides, however: "This chapter shall not apply to persons convicted of misdemeanors; to persons who have served time in county jails only; to persons serving a…