Pennsylvania Code
Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS
Part VIII - CRIMINAL SENTENCING
Chapter 303a - SENTENCING GUIDELINES, 8TH EDITION
Section 303a.2 - Guideline sentencing standards

Universal Citation: 204 PA Code ยง 303a.2

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024

(a) General provisions.

(1) The court shall consider the sentencing guidelines in determining the appropriate sentence for persons convicted of, or pleading guilty or nolo contendere 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.

(2) 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 204 Pa. Code Chapters 307 and 307a (relating to resentencing guidelines for 7th edition sentencing guidelines; and resentencing guidelines for 8th edition sentencing guidelines); or revocation of parole, except as provided in Chapter 311 (relating to State parole recommitment ranges).

(3) The sentencing guidelines shall apply to all offenses committed on or after the effective date of the guidelines. Editions or amendments to the sentencing guidelines shall apply to all offenses committed on or after the effective date of the edition or amendment to the guidelines.
(i) The effective date of the initial sentencing guidelines and effective dates of editions and amendments to the sentencing guidelines are provided in § 303a.8 (relating to effective dates of sentencing guidelines editions).

(ii) On October 7, 1987, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated the sentencing guidelines due to a procedural error that occurred in 1981, when the General Assembly rejected the initial sentencing guidelines adopted by the Commission. As a result, sentencing guidelines adopted prior to April 25, 1988, were declared by the Court to be of no force.

(iii) For offenses committed on multiple dates, the guidelines shall be applied based on the date of each offense and the effective date of the editions or amendments to the guidelines. If the specific dates of the offenses cannot be determined, the later date shall be used to determine the applicable edition or amendment of the sentencing guidelines.

(4) 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 the sentencing a statement of the reason or reasons for the sentence imposed. In every case in which a court of record imposes a sentence or resentence in the aggravated or mitigated range, or imposes a sentence that is a departure from the guidelines, the court shall report the reason or reasons for the deviation from the standard range of the guidelines to the Commission.

(b) Procedures at sentencing.

(1) determine the guideline sentence recommendations for each offense in the judicial proceeding:
(i) Determine the offense gravity score for each conviction offense as described in § 303a.3 (relating to offense gravity score).

(ii) Determine the corresponding prior record score as described in § 303a.4 (relating to prior record score).

(iii) Determine the offense-specific sentence recommendations as described in § 303a.5 (relating to offense-specific sentence recommendations).

(2) review the offense-specific sentence recommendations and the judicial proceeding considerations prior to the imposition of sentence:
(i) offense specific sentence recommendations, as provided in § 303a.5, and aggravating and mitigating circumstances, as provided in § 303a.6 (relating to aggravated and mitigated circumstances), shall be considered by the court for every conviction offense.

(ii) judicial proceeding considerations, as provided in § 303a.7 (relating to judicial proceeding considerations), addressing the imposition of concurrent or consecutive sentences and the authorization of any sentencing or correctional programs based on the aggregate sentence, may be considered by the court when determining the sentence imposed during the judicial proceeding.

(3) Report the sentence(s) and reasons as required using the commission's sentencing guidelines application.

(c) Reporting information to the Commission.

(1) As authorized by 42 Pa.C.S. § 2153(a)(14) (relating to powers and duties of commission) and as required by 42 Pa.C.S. § 9721(b) (relating to sentencing generally), a court of record shall submit required guidelines and sentencing information to the Commission for each conviction offense and for the judicial proceeding.

(2) The full submission of data to the Commission, and certification of compliance with guidelines and with the county's intermediate punishment plan for imposing restrictive conditions, is required by the act of December 18, 2019 (P.L. 771, No. 114) and 42 Pa.C.S. § 2154.1(b) (relating to adoption of guidelines for restrictive conditions).

(3) Unless otherwise provided by the Commission, the commission's JNET-based sentencing guidelines application shall be used at the court's direction to prepare the guideline sentence form for each conviction offense, and the sentence guideline form for any resentence for a revocation of probation, as provided in Chapters 307 and 307a.

(4) Following imposition of the sentence, a completed guideline sentence form, including the SID, the sentence imposed, reasons for deviation from the standard range of the sentencing guidelines, and all required guidelines and sentencing information for each conviction offense and for the judicial proceeding, shall be made a part of the record, and the information electronically submitted to the Commission using the commission's sentencing guidelines application no later than 30 days after the date of sentencing.

(5) Following revocation of probation and resentencing, a completed guideline sentence form, including the SID, the resentence imposed, reasons for deviation from the standard range of the resentencing guidelines, and all required guidelines and resentencing information, including information from the completed sentence guideline form associated with the initial order of probation, shall be made a part of the record, and the information electronically submitted to the Commission using the commission's sentencing guidelines application no later than 30 days after the date of resentencing.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Pennsylvania may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.