Rauner grants 7 clemency petitions, denies 87

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has granted seven petitions for clemency and denied 87 others.

His office referred questions on Friday's granted cases to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. A board spokesman didn't immediately return messages.

People whose clemency petitions are granted may go to court to try to have their criminal record expunged. All have undergone a recent criminal background check through an Illinois authorities' data system.

Late last year, Rauner's office announced the Republican governor had eliminated a backlog of thousands of clemency requests he inherited from previous governors.

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