Act 95 of 2010 required the Commission adopt a sentence risk assessment instrument. The instrument may be used as an aid in evaluating the relative risk that an offender will reoffend and be a threat to society, indicate if a more thorough assessment is necessary or if a presentence investigation report should be completed, and aid in determining if an offender is an appropriate candidate for an alternative sentence.  The Sentence Risk Assessment Instrument became effective July 1, 2020.

Act 14 of 2018 charged the Commission to adopt a model pretrial domestic violence risk assessment which may be used by Courts of Common Pleas, Philadelphia Municipal Courts, Magisterial District Judges, and Pittsburgh Magistrates Court.  Each President Judge has the option of adopting a pretrial risk assessment tool for use by the issuing authority as an aid in determining whether a defendant poses a threat of danger to the victim for domestic violence.  The Commission voted to recommend the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) as the model pretrial risk assessment tool on March 5, 2020.  Due to the disruption of court operations related to COVID-19, further action related to this recommendation has been tabled.