When any crime punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year has been committed, the Governor, upon application of the state’s attorney for the judicial district in which it has been committed, may offer, publicly, a reward not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, to the person who gives information leading to the arrest and conviction of the guilty person, or, if such guilty person has fled after conviction of a felony in a court of this state, to the person who gives information leading to the arrest and detention of the convicted felon, whether found within the state or elsewhere, which reward shall be paid to the informer by the state, by order of the court before which such conviction is had.