<P> Almost all federal pardon petitions are addressed to the President, who grants or denies the request . In rare cases, the President will, of his own accord, issue a Pardon . Typically, applications for pardons are referred for review and non-binding recommendation by the Office of the Pardon Attorney, an official of the United States Department of Justice . The percentage of pardons and reprieves granted varies from administration to administration; however, fewer pardons have been granted since World War II . </P> <P> The pardon power has been controversial from the enactment of the United States Constitution . </P> <P> The pardon power of the President extends only to an offense recognizable under federal law . However, the governors of most of the 50 states have the power to grant pardons or reprieves for offenses under state criminal law . In other states, that power is committed to an appointed agency or board, or to a board and the governor in some hybrid arrangement (in some states the agency is merged with that of the parole board, as in the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board). </P> <P> Nine states in the United States have Boards of Pardons and Paroles that exclusively grant all state pardons . These states are: Alabama (Board of Pardons and Paroles), Connecticut (Board of Pardons and Paroles), Georgia (Board of Pardons and Paroles), Idaho (Commission of Pardons and Paroles), Minnesota (Board of Pardons), Nebraska (Board of Pardons), Nevada (Board of Pardon Commissioners), South Carolina (Board of Probation, Parole and Pardon), and Utah (Board of Pardons and Parole). </P>

Which branch of government has the power to pardon criminals
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