Sex offender grid calculation fix

A mathematical rounding error has resulted in incorrect presumptive sentences on the sex offender grid.

Requested by the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and supported by the judicial branch, a new law corrects the problem to ensure courts do not sentence someone beyond the presumptive range and potentially avoid lawsuits.

The change is needed so the commission can publish a new grid out of sequence, otherwise the change would not happen until next summer.

A person’s criminal sexual misconduct sentence is determined by the severity of the offense and the person’s criminal history score. When the lines are matched up on a grid, it shows the presumptive sentence for that offense. The commission is statutorily ordered to put a range — 15 percent below or 20 percent above the presumptive sentence — on the grid that a judge can sentence within.

When the grid was created in 2006 the math calculations were performed incorrectly, leaving some of the ranges off by one month. Once the error was discovered, the calculations were changed to be correct, and the grid was reissued. However, the commission’s enabling legislation prevents it from officially putting the grid out until after its 2013 report to the Legislature. Those proposed modifications would be are scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, 2013.

The new grid will apply to cases from the effective date forward. The commission has identified all offenders incorrectly sentenced. For offenders sentenced at the lower end of the range nothing will change because a court can’t increase a sentence once it’s been imposed. For offenders affected on the high end, there is a rule of criminal procedure allowing the courts to correct that sentence.

Rep. Doug Wardlow (R-Eagan) and Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) sponsor the law that took effect April 24, 2012, one day after it was signed by Gov. Mark Dayton.

HF2896/ SF2464*/CH229