Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 49, December 7, 2024
Section 303.13 - Guideline sentence recommendations: aggravated and mitigated circumstances(a) Unless otherwise prohibited by statute, when the court determines that an aggravating circumstance is present, including consideration of validated assessments of risk, needs and responsivity to guide decisions related to the intensity of intervention, use of restrictive conditions and duration of community supervision, the court may impose an aggravated sentence as follows: (1) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 the court may impose a sentence that is up to 12 months longer than the upper limit of the standard range.(2) For the Offense Gravity Score of 8, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 9 months longer than the upper limit of the standard range.(3) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 6 and 7, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 6 months longer than the upper limit of the standard range.(4) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 3 months longer than the upper limit of the standard range. When imposing a fine or community service pursuant to § 303.14(a)(4), the court may impose a sentence that is up to 25 hours longer than the upper limit of the standard range.(5) When the standard range is Restorative Sanctions (RS), the aggravated sentence recommendation is 1-3.(b) Unless otherwise prohibited by statute, when the court determines that a mitigating circumstance is present, including consideration of validated assessments of risk, needs and responsivity to guide decisions related to the intensity of intervention, use of restrictive conditions and duration of community supervision, the court may impose a mitigated sentence as follows:(1) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 the court may impose a sentence that is up to 12 months shorter than the lower limit of the standard range.(2) For the Offense Gravity Score of 8, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 9 months shorter than the lower limit of the standard range.(3) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 6 and 7, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 6 months shorter than the lower limit of the standard range.(4) For the Offense Gravity Scores of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the court may impose a sentence that is up to 3 months shorter than the lower limit of the standard range. When imposing a fine or community service pursuant to § 303.14(a)(4), the court may impose a sentence that is up to 25 hours shorter than the lower limit of the standard range.(5) When the bottom of the standard range is less than or equal to 3 months of incarceration, the lower limit of the mitigated sentence recommendation is Restorative Sanctions (RS).(6) In no case where an enhancement is applied may the mitigated sentence recommendation be lower than the duration of the enhancement of the standard range described in § 303.10.(c) When the court imposes an aggravated or mitigated sentence, it shall state the reasons on the record and on the Guideline Sentence Form, a copy of which is electronically transmitted to the Commission on Sentencing in the manner described in § 303.1(e).The provisions of this § 303.13 adopted February 15, 1994, effective 8/12/1994, 24 Pa.B. 2483; amended March 14, 1997, effective 6/13/1997, 27 Pa.B. 1252; amended February 9, 2005, effective 6/3/2005, 35 Pa.B. 1508; amended September 5, 2008, effective 12/5/2008, 38 Pa.B. 4971; amended September 13, 2012, effective 12/28/2012, 42 Pa.B. 6072; amended June 6, 2013, effective 9/27/2013, 43 Pa.B. 3655; amended June 27, 2014, effective 9/26/2014, 44 Pa.B. 4071; amended September 6, 2019, effective 1/1/2020, 49 Pa.B. 5110; amended September 25, 2020, effective 1/1/2021, 50 Pa.B. 5341. This section cited in 204 Pa. Code § 303.2 (relating to procedure for determining the guideline sentence); 204 Pa. Code § 303.9 (relating to guideline sentence recommendation: general); 204 Pa. Code § 303.17(a) (relating to Deadly Weapon Enhancement/Possessed Matrix); 204 Pa. Code § 303.17(b) (relating to Deadly Weapon Enhancement/Used Matrix); and 204 Pa. Code § 307.4 (relating to guideline resentence recommendations).