The project is a one-time, large-scale pardon effort for people with certain minor, non-violent marijuana convictions.
“This is really crucial for a lot of Pennsylvanians with non-violent marijuana-related offenses on their record. It may prevent them from educational opportunities, job opportunities, housing opportunities, so this was an exciting effort for a lot of Pennsylvanians," said Meredith Buettner, the executive director for the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition.
The board says they received applications from 66 out of 67 counties.
“It really is absolutely incredible to see that as we work through the data to find out who is eligible and who is ineligible, we can hopefully impact so many people’s lives in the next few months and be able to help them get on their way to a clear record," said Celeste Trusty, the secretary for the state Board of Pardons.
Dauphin and York counties made the top of the list with 298 and 284 respectively.
“These elected officials need to understand that their constituents, their neighbors, their entire district would benefit from legalization efforts so that we can clear records," said Trusty.
Now that the applications are in, the next step is to review them.
“The board is going to take a look [and] review [them] and then they get to vote on moving that forward to the governor," said Trusty.
Other counties that had high applications included Lancaster County with 152 applications, Cumberland County with 92 applications, and Lebanon County with 75 applications.
Here is the full list of the number of applications per county:
Dauphin: 298
York: 284
Allegheny: 212
Philadelphia: 197
Delaware: 181
Montgomery: 175
Lancaster: 152
Berks: 120
Lehigh: 118
Bucks: 111
Erie: 104
Northampton: 94
Cumberland: 92
Lebanon: 75
Luzerne: 73
Lackawanna: 70
Chester: 61
Westmoreland: 61
Adams: 59
Blair: 59
Monroe: 57
Centre: 55
Lycoming: 51
Fayette: 47
Schuylkill: 46
Franklin: 43
Northumberland: 38
Indiana: 35
Crawford: 34
Columbia: 30
Washington: 30
Cambria: 29
Pike: 27
Beaver: 26
Clearfield: 26
Mercer: 22
Butler: 20
Bedford: 19
Carbon: 19
Huntingdon: 19
Jefferson: 18
Perry: 18
Lawrence: 17
Venango: 17
Clinton: 16
Snyder: 16
Armstrong: 15
McKean: 15
Wayne: 15
Bradford: 14
Union: 14
Clarion: 11
Mifflin: 11
Somerset: 9
Warren: 9
Fulton: 7
Potter: 7
Elk: 6
Greene: 6
Juniata: 6
Susquehanna: 6
Tioga: 6
Forest: 3
Sullivan: 3
Wyoming: 3
Montour: 2