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Rule 703 – Disclosure of Pre-Sentence Reports

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Pennsylvania

(A) All pre-sentence reports and related psychiatric and psychological reports shall be confidential, and not of public record. They shall be available to the sentencing judge, and to:

(1) An examining professional or facility appointed to assist the court in sentencing, unless the sentencing judge otherwise orders;
(2) the attorney for the Commonwealth and counsel for the defendant, for inspection and copying, unless the sentencing judge orders that they be available for inspection only.
(B) If the defendant or the Commonwealth alleges any factual inaccuracy in a report under this rule, the sentencing judge shall, as to each inaccuracy found, order that the report be corrected accordingly.
(C) After sentencing, unless the sentencing judge otherwise orders, and subject to the provisions of paragraph (B), psychiatric, psychological, and pre-sentence reports shall also be available to:

(1) correctional institutions housing the defendant; and
(2) departments of probation or parole supervising the defendant; and
(3) departments of probation or parole preparing a pre-sentence investigation report regarding the defendant.

The reports shall continue to be confidential and not of public record.

(D) On the order of the sentencing judge, a psychiatric, psychological, or pre-sentence investigation report may be made available to any other person or agency having a legitimate professional interest in the disposition of the case.
(E) The sentencing judge may at any time impose further conditions of confidentiality on a person or agency receiving a report under paragraphs (C) or (D) of this rule.

234 Pa. Code ยง 703

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Report explaining the January 1, 1992 amendments published at 20 Pa.B. 1697 (March 24, 1990); Supplemental Report published with the Court’s Order at 21 Pa.B. 5329 (November 16, 1991).

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1477 (March 18, 2000).