Starting Tuesday, judges throughout the state will have access to a new effort to help them determine appropriate sentences for criminal offenders. A new routine probation and parole report on criminals will now be available to judges prior to sentencing. Kim Green, Director of the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission, says these sentencing recommendations will include possible alternatives to prison. The recommendations are the result of the pre-sentence investigation report put together by probation and parole officers, and others in the criminal justice system. Green hastens to point out these are not sentencing guidelines – only recommendations that leave the discretion to judges.
