Presumptive Sentence
Presumptive sentences are presumptive because they are presumed to be appropriate for all typical cases sharing criminal history and offense severity characteristics. The presumptive sentence is derived from two types of recommendations: the presumptive disposition and the presumptive duration.
Presumptive Disposition: The presumptive disposition is the recommendation for either a commitment or a stayed sentence.
Presumptive Stayed Sentence: A recommendation for a stayed sentence for cases contained in the cells within the shaded area on the Grids. During the stay, the offender is typically placed on probation during which up to one year of confinement and other non-jail sanctions can be imposed as conditions of probation.
Presumptive Commitment to Prison: A presumptive commitment is a recommended disposition of imprisonment for cases contained in cells outside of the shaded area on the Grids.
Presumptive Duration: The presumptive duration is the recommended fixed sentence length in months found in the appropriate cell on the applicable Grid.
Presumptive Range: The presumptive range is provided for a sentence that is a presumptive commitment. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 244.09, subd. 5(2), the range is 15 percent lower and 20 percent higher than the fixed duration displayed in each cell on the Grids.
Lower Range: The "lower range" is that portion of the presumptive range that is shorter (by up to 15%) than the fixed presumptive duration.
Upper Range: The "upper range" is that portion of the presumptive range that is longer (by up to 20%) than the fixed presumptive duration.
Unranked Offenses:
The Sentencing Guidelines Commission assigns severity-level rankings to felony offenses to indicate offense seriousness. In determining how, or whether, offenses should be assigned a severity level, the Commission considers how district courts have generally sentenced the offenses, along with the maximum penalty established by the Legislature, rankings for similar crimes, and other relevant information. The Commission has intentionally left a number of felony offenses unranked.
An unranked offense typically has one or more of the following characteristics: (1) the offense is rarely prosecuted; (2) the offense covers a wide range of underlying conduct; or (3) the offense is new and the severity of a typical offense cannot yet be determined. If a significant number of future convictions are obtained under one or more of the unranked offenses, the Commission will reexamine the ranking of these offenses and assign an appropriate severity level for a typical offense. Practitioners can contact the Commission for information on severity levels assigned to unranked offenses.
When the court sentences an unranked offense, the court must assign an appropriate severity level for the offense and specify on the record why that particular level was assigned. The court may consider, but is not limited to, the following factors:
The gravity of the specific conduct underlying the unranked offense;
The severity level assigned to any ranked offense with elements that are similar to the elements of the unranked offense;
The conduct of and severity level assigned to other offenders for the same unranked offense; and
The severity level assigned to other offenders engaged in similar conduct.
