Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday pardoned a Democratic former legislator who was found guilty four years ago of perjury and voter fraud for lying about living in his district.

Roderick Wright was convicted in 2014 after prosecutors said he lied about residing in the state Senate district in Los Angeles County that elected him in 2008. He served an hour in jail and 2½ years of probation. In addition, he was barred from running for office because of the felony convictions.

Wright “has shown that since his release from custody he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character, and conducted himself as a law-abiding citizen,” Brown wrote in his pardon message.

He said Wright has “devoted much of his life to public service,” including six years in the Assembly and six years in the Senate.

Prosecutors accused Wright of claiming he lived in an apartment in Inglewood in his district, when he had actually been living in Baldwin Hills in a neighboring district since 2000. The investigation began shortly before Wright was elected to office in November 2008, when prosecutors received a complaint that he was living outside his district.

In September, Brown signed SB1250, changing residency rules for the 120 lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly. The bill allows lawmakers to live outside their district and instead uses their voter registration address for determining whether they are eligible for certain offices.

Had the bill been in place at the time Wright was in the Senate, he could legally have lived outside his district.

Wright returned to the Capitol this year as a lobbyist.

He was one of 38 people whom Brown pardoned Wednesday. Most of the others were convicted of minor drug offenses. Brown granted sentence commutations to another 70 inmates, making them eligible to apply to the state Board of Parole Hearings for release.

Brown’s office said he has issued 1,189 pardons and 152 commutations since beginning his second stint as governor in 2011. His predecessor, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, pardoned 15 people and issued 10 commutations during his seven years in office, Brown’s office said. Schwarzenegger’s predecessor, former Gov. Gray Davis, issued no pardons or commutations before he was recalled in 2003.

Trapper Byrne is The San Francisco Chronicle’s politics editor. Melody Gutierrez is The Chronicle’s Sacramento bureau chief. Email: tbyrne@sfchronicle.com, mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @trapperbyrne @MelodyGutierrez