Joshua Howard v. State of Mississippi, 2015-CA-01496-COA

In 2009 Joshua Howard pleaded guilty to statutory rape and received a 20-year sentence with 17 years suspended.
On January 10, 2014, the Governor granted Howard a full, unconditional pardon for that conviction.
Howard petitioned the Rankin County Circuit Court (June 25, 2014) to expunge all records related to the pardoned conviction.
The circuit court denied the expungement motion; Howard appealed the denial.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, applying Mississippi Supreme Court precedent holding that a gubernatorial pardon does not automatically entitle a person to expungement under current law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a gubernatorial pardon requires judicial expungement of conviction records	Howard: a full, unconditional pardon should restore the person "as if" the conviction never occurred and thus entitle expungement	State: under Polk and related precedent, expungement is a matter of legislative grace; a pardon removes legal penalties but does not erase records	The court held Howard is not entitled to expungement after a gubernatorial pardon under current Mississippi law; affirmed denial

Polk v. State, 150 So. 3d 967 (Miss. 2014) (Miss. Supreme Court held a gubernatorial pardon does not entitle a person to expungement absent statutory authority)
Hentz v. State, 152 So. 3d 1139 (Miss. 2014) (affirmance/relevant discussion; Justice Kitchens’s dissent argued pardon should entitle to expungement)
Jones v. State, 158 So. 3d 1144 (Miss. 2015) (reaffirmed Polk’s holding)
Robertson v. State, 158 So. 3d 280 (Miss. 2015) (reaffirmed Polk’s holding)