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Commission on Sentencing explains eighth-edition Prior Record Score determination
Summary
A Commission on Sentencing presenter outlined how the eighth-edition Prior Record Score is determined: identify the most serious prior offense group (POG) and count priors in that group to assign a category from 0 to 4.
A presenter for the Commission on Sentencing outlined the method for determining a person’s Prior Record Score under the commission’s eighth-edition guidelines, saying the process focuses on the most serious prior offense group and the number of prior offenses within that group.
The presenter said the first step is to review the person’s entire criminal history and remove any priors that will lapse under the policies. After that, staff must “identify the most serious adjudications and or convictions by prior offense group or POG” and count priors in that same POG to determine the score category.
Under the eighth-edition rules, there are five Prior Record Score categories (0–4). The presenter summarized the category mapping provided in the commission’s reference materials: Prior Record Score Category 0 — no prior adjudications or convictions (or all priors have lapsed); Category 1 — no more than two prior POG 1 offenses; Category 2 — either one or fewer POG 3 offenses, or up to two POG 2 offenses, or three or more POG 1 offenses; Category 3 — one or fewer POG 4 offenses, or two or more POG 3 offenses, or three or more POG 2 offenses; Category 4 — two or more POG 4 offenses.
“The person’s Prior Record Score category will be determined by the number of priors in the most serious POG,” the presenter said, noting the commission provides a chart that lists POGs on the vertical axis and Prior Record Score categories on the horizontal axis to assist users.
The presentation was instructional and did not include proposed rule changes, motions, or votes. The presenter closed by reiterating that the commission’s reference guide and chart should be used to apply the steps described.
The Commission on Sentencing materials frame the Prior Record Score as a function of the most serious prior offense group and the count of priors in that group; the presentation concluded with examples illustrating how POG counts map to score categories.
