1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to sentencing guidelines; clarifying that the 
  1.3             application of the sentencing guidelines system is not 
  1.4             a right that a defendant may waive; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1996, section 244.09, subdivision 5. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 244.09, 
  1.8   subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 5.  The commission shall, on or before January 1, 
  1.10  1980, promulgate sentencing guidelines for the district court.  
  1.11  The guidelines shall be based on reasonable offense and offender 
  1.12  characteristics.  The guidelines promulgated by the commission 
  1.13  shall be advisory to the district court and shall establish: 
  1.14     (1) The circumstances under which imprisonment of an 
  1.15  offender is proper; and 
  1.16     (2) A presumptive, fixed sentence for offenders for whom 
  1.17  imprisonment is proper, based on each appropriate combination of 
  1.18  reasonable offense and offender characteristics.  The guidelines 
  1.19  may provide for an increase or decrease of up to 15 percent in 
  1.20  the presumptive, fixed sentence. 
  1.21     Although the sentencing guidelines are advisory to the 
  1.22  district court, the court shall follow the procedures of the 
  1.23  guidelines when it pronounces sentence in a proceeding to which 
  1.24  the guidelines apply by operation of statute.  Sentencing 
  1.25  pursuant to the sentencing guidelines is not a right that 
  2.1   accrues to a person convicted of a felony; it is a procedure 
  2.2   based on state public policy to maintain uniformity, 
  2.3   proportionality, rationality, and predictability in sentencing. 
  2.4      The sentencing guidelines promulgated by the commission may 
  2.5   also establish appropriate sanctions for offenders for whom 
  2.6   imprisonment is not proper.  Any guidelines promulgated by the 
  2.7   commission establishing sanctions for offenders for whom 
  2.8   imprisonment is not proper shall make specific reference to 
  2.9   noninstitutional sanctions, including but not limited to the 
  2.10  following:  payment of fines, day fines, restitution, community 
  2.11  work orders, work release programs in local facilities, 
  2.12  community based residential and nonresidential programs, 
  2.13  incarceration in a local correctional facility, and probation 
  2.14  and the conditions thereof. 
  2.15     In establishing and modifying the sentencing guidelines, 
  2.16  the primary consideration of the commission shall be public 
  2.17  safety.  The commission shall also consider current sentencing 
  2.18  and release practices; correctional resources, including but not 
  2.19  limited to the capacities of local and state correctional 
  2.20  facilities; and the long-term negative impact of the crime on 
  2.21  the community. 
  2.22     The provisions of sections 14.001 to 14.69 do not apply to 
  2.23  the promulgation of the sentencing guidelines, and the 
  2.24  sentencing guidelines, including severity levels and criminal 
  2.25  history scores, are not subject to review by the legislative 
  2.26  commission to review administrative rules.  However, on or 
  2.27  before January 1, 1986, the commission shall adopt rules 
  2.28  pursuant to sections 14.001 to 14.69 which establish procedures 
  2.29  for the promulgation of the sentencing guidelines, including 
  2.30  procedures for the promulgation of severity levels and criminal 
  2.31  history scores, and these rules shall be subject to review by 
  2.32  the legislative commission to review administrative rules.