Reporting Requirements
Since 1982, the Commission has been collecting relevant information on sentences imposed as reported by criminal court judges. Reporting is mandated by statute (42 Pa.C.S. §2153(a)(14)). While it does not contain a verbatim account of the entire sentencing proceeding, the information collected by the Commission includes offender information and court case identification, offense of conviction, record of previous convictions, application of sentencing enhancements and/or mandatory provisions, type of disposition (e.g., negotiated plea, jury trial, etc.), guideline recommendation, sentence imposed, and reasons for sentence within a guideline range and/or departure from the guideline recommendation.
By statute, judges are required to consider the sentencing guidelines for each conviction offense, and to complete and submit a corresponding guideline form to the Commission (42 Pa.C.S. §2153 (a)(14)(ii)). The Comment in P.R.Crim.P. Rule 704 reiterates this requirement to complete and submit a guideline form to the Commission, and 42 Pa.C.S. §9764(b)(4) requires the court to submit a copy of the guideline form to a correctional facility when committing an offender.
The court is required to submit completed guideline sentence forms to the Commission within 30 days of sentencing. For sentences imposed under the 5th (1997) and subsequent editions of the guidelines, this information is submitted electronically to the Commission via SGS Web. For sentences imposed under previous editions of the guidelines, this information is submitted using paper forms (see: Sentencing Guidelines).