Sentencing Guidelines Unit

The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, established by the Pennsylvania Legislature, has created a formula that assigns an Offense Gravity Score (OGS) to each criminal offense based upon the severity of the crime.

A defendant is also assigned a Prior Record Score (PRS) depending on the number of prior offenses committed by the defendant contained in the defendant’s Criminal History Record (“rap-sheet”).

Using the defendant’s PRS and OGS for the crimes charged, the Sentencing Guidelines Unit generates the sentencing guidelines for the case using a grid established by the Commission on Sentencing. The sentencing guidelines are presented to the trial Judge to consider after a defendant has either entered a guilty plea or been found guilty at trial.