In many states boards of pardon have been provided for sharing with the governor the responsibility for the exercise of this important prerogative.[15] These boards are of two kinds: first, those whose powers are limited to the hearing of applications for pardons and the making of recommendations to the governor, who is not bound by their advice; and second, those whose approval is necessary for the validity of any pardon granted by him. Convictions for treason and in impeachment cases are frequently excepted from the list of cases in which the governor may grant pardons, though in the case of treason he is sometimes given the power to suspend the execution of the sentence to await the action of the legislature. In a number of states notice of an application for a pardon must be published in the community where the applicant was convicted, in order that the people of the community who have been injured by his crime may have an opportunity to protest against the granting of a pardon to him. Sometimes also the approval of the presiding judge of the court in which the criminal was convicted is necessary before a pardon may be granted. It is usual to require the governor to make a report to the legislature at each session of all pardons granted, and at the same time give the reason in each case why a pardon was issued. [15] In several states certain of the state officers, one of whom is the attorney-general, serve as the pardon board; in others, it is the senate; and in Massachusetts and Maine it is the executive council. Generally with the right of pardon is included the power to grant reprieves, that is, stays of execution; commutations, that is, the substitution of a lesser punishment in the place of the one imposed; and remission of fines and forfeitures. The right also usually includes the power of amnesty or the power of granting by proclamation pardons to large numbers of persons, as in the case of uprisings or insurrections against the laws and authority of the state. A pardon may be absolute or conditional; in the first case, it is granted without restriction; in the second case, it is valid only on certain conditions, as where the offender is required to lead an upright life or where he is required to leave the state. Generally the governor of the state, unlike the President of the United States, has no power to grant a pardon to an individual offender before he has been convicted. =State Boards and Commissions.=--One of the remarkable political tendencies of recent years has been the multiplication of boards and commissions to aid in the government of the states. Every state now has a number of such boards, and in some of the populous commonwealths such as New York and Massachusetts there are upwards of a hundred of them. Hardly a legislative session passes that does not create one or two commissions for some purpose or other. These boards or commissions fall roughly into five classes, as follows: