SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 6364

BYSenators Pullen, McCaslin and Madsen

Adding requirement for sentencing of certain felons.

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

Senate Hearing Date(s):January 20, 1988; February 3, 1988

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 6364 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.

      Signed by Senators Pullen, Chairman; McCaslin, Vice Chairman; Halsan, Hayner, Madsen, Nelson, Newhouse, Niemi.

Senate Staff:Jon Carlson (786-7459)

                  February 3, 1988

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE, FEBRUARY 3, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA) established a presumptive and determinate sentencing law for the state.  The act also created the Sentencing Guidelines Commission to oversee the administration of the law.

The SRA provides a grid of presumed sentences for felony convictions based on the statutory ranking of crimes as to their seriousness and on the criminal history of offenders.  The presumptive sentence is a range of prison time within which the judge is to set the defendant's actual term of confinement.  The judge may impose an exceptional sentence outside the presumptive range under certain statutorily prescribed circumstances. Exceptional sentences must be supported in writing by the judge and are subject to appeal by either the prosecution or defense.

It is recommended that the guidelines be changed with respect to sentencing a defendant for certain violent offenses when the defendant has prior serious felony convictions or a high offender score.

SUMMARY:

A person must be sentenced at or above the minimum sentence in the standard range in the sentencing guidelines if the person is being sentenced for one or more class A felonies and: 1) the person's criminal history shows a prior felony conviction classified at the higher end of the sentencing grid (level VII or greater);  or 2) the person's prior convictions at the time of sentencing reflect a high offender score (four or greater on the offender score matrix).

EFFECT OF PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE:

The provisions with respect to a person being sentenced for one or more class A felonies with a serious criminal history are moved to a different section of the sentencing guidelines to clarify that the minimum terms of confinement are mandatory and cannot be varied or modified.

Appropriation:    none

Revenue:    none

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Senate Committee - Testified: Roxanne Park, Sentencing Guidelines Commission