204 Pa. Code § 303.1 - Sentencing guidelines standards
(a) The court shall consider the sentencing
guidelines in determining the appropriate sentence for offenders convicted of,
or pleading guilty or nolo con-tendere to, felonies and misdemeanors. Where
crimes merge for sentencing purposes, the court shall consider the sentencing
guidelines only on the offense assigned the higher Offense Gravity
Score.
(b) The sentencing
guidelines do not apply to sentences imposed as a result of the following:
accelerated rehabilitative disposition; disposition in lieu of trial; direct or
indirect contempt of court; violations of protection from abuse orders;
revocation of probation, except as provided in 204Pa. Code Chapter 307; or
revocation of parole.
(c) The
sentencing guidelines shall apply to all offenses committed on or after the
effective date of the guidelines. Amendments to the guidelines shall apply to
all offenses committed on or after the date the amendment becomes part of the
guidelines.
(1) When there are current
multiple convictions for offenses that overlap two sets of guidelines, the
former guidelines shall apply to offenses that occur prior to the effective
date of the amendment and the later guidelines shall apply to offenses that
occur on or after the effective date of the amendment. If the specific dates of
the offenses cannot be determined, the later date determines the edition of the
guidelines that shall apply to the offenses.
(2) The initial sentencing guidelines went
into effect on July 22, 1982 and applied to all crimes committed on or after
that date. Amendments to the guidelines went into effect in June 1983, January
1986 and June 1986. On October 7, 1987 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
invalidated the guidelines due to a procedural error that occurred in 1981 when
the legislature rejected the first set of guidelines. New guidelines were
drafted and became effective on April 25, 1988. Amendments to the guidelines
went into effect August 9, 1991 and December 20, 1991. Revised sets of
guidelines became effective August 12, 1994, June13, 1997, June 3, 2005,
December 5, 2008, and December 28, 2012. Amendments to the guidelines went into
effect September 27, 2013, September26, 2014, September25, 2015, January 1,
2018, June1, 2018, and January 1, 2020. This amendment, Amendment 6 of the 7th
Edition Sentencing Guidelines, shall take effect January1, 2021 and apply to
all crimes committed on or after that date.
(d) In every case in which a court of record
imposes a sentence for a felony or misdemeanor, the court shall make as a part
of the record, and disclose in open court at the time of sentencing, a
statement of the reason or reasons for the sentence imposed. In every case
where a court of record imposes a sentence outside the sentencing guidelines,
the reason or reasons for the deviation from the guidelines shall be recorded
on the Guideline Sentence Form, a copy of which shall be electronically
transmitted to the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing in the manner
described in §
303.1(e).
(e)
(1)
Unless otherwise provided by the Commission, the JNET-based Sentencing
Guidelines Software Web application (SGS Web) shall be used at the court's
direction to prepare all guideline-required sentencing information. The
completed Guideline Sentence Form shall be made a part of the record and the
information electronically submitted to the Commission via SGS Web no later
than 30 days after the date of sentencing.
(2) Effective for sentences imposed on or
after January 1, 2016, the JNET-based Sentencing Guidelines Software Web
application (SGS Web) shall be used at the court's direction to report all
subsequent revocations of probation, county intermediate punishment and state
intermediate punishment and related resentences to the Commission. The
information shall be electronically submitted to the Commission via SGS Web no
later than 30 days after the date of resentencing.
(f) Effective January 1, 2014, the State
Identification Number (SID) for an offender shall be included as part of the
record in the completed Guideline Sentence Form.
Notes
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