We are remodeling a house. At some point the panel was moved out of the basement to the first floor, outside wall. The previous home owners had the panel in the back of a bedroom closet. We have removed all of the walls and are building back a bedroom and bathroom. We would like to build a small closet, accessible through the bedroom, for the electrical panel and a separate closet for the clothes in the bedroom. I understand there are clearance distances in the code book - 36" in front and 30" wide.

The clearances you state are correct. The space must be dedicated for the panel, and not used as a clothes closet.