Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It And Application Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission approves contract extension for CASER development; next-gen sentencing app remains on schedule
Summary
Members approved a service contract to extend application development support for the Commission—s next-generation sentencing application (CASER). Staff said major features for guideline generation are complete and the project remains on track for phased rollout in 2026–2027 while the legacy SGS Web remains in active maintenance.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing approved a services contract extension to continue development of the commission—s next-generation web application (CASER) and heard a progress report on both CASER and the legacy SGS Web.
Applications and IT manager Christy reported the team had completed core screens and functionality to generate sentencing guideline recommendations in the new CASER application. Completed items include offense creation, prior-record-score calculation, enhancements for offense blocks, implementation of the statutory sentence-risk instrument, a sentence-recommendation page and a printable sentencing-guideline report intended to replace the existing form. Staff said CASER places greater emphasis on showing the sentence-risk assessment on the guideline report screen so judges and practitioners see the value during printing.
Christy presented screenshots of the new offense-gravity-score (OGS) and prior-record-score (PRS) pages and the revised guideline form, which staff said consolidates offender-level information on the left and offense-specific details on the right. She reported the development roadmap remains on track: functional completion and testing are targeted through 2026 with a phased statewide rollout to finish in 2027.
To extend contracted developer support, the commission considered and approved a service-purchase contract not to exceed $50,000 to retain the current developer through June. A motion to approve the contract was made and seconded; the commission carried the motion by voice vote with all those present saying "aye." The meeting record includes both "Corbin Creek" and "Carbon Creek" as vendor names in the minutes; staff materials listed the contractor as Carbon Creek and staff said the contract will fund continued development and testing of CASER.
While CASER is in active development, staff also reported ongoing maintenance and recent fixes to the legacy SGS Web application. On Feb. 27 staff deployed production fixes addressing incorrect risk-scoring in certain juvenile-adjudication scenarios and implemented statutory changes needed to reflect Act 144 of 2022 and Act 16 of 2024 about registerable offenses and county intermediate punishment eligibility. Christy also reported usage metrics for SGS Web: as of Jan. 31 the system contained more than 116,000 sentences with 2024 sentencing dates and 5,000 with 2025 sentencing dates submitted.
Commissioners asked to review the printable guideline form with sitting judges before the next phase of deployment. Staff said they will bring judges' feedback to the project team before wider rollout.
