Criminal

Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole

Victim Impact Statements

Our Department obtains Victim Impact Statements from victims on two different occasions.

The first is attached to a Pre Sentence Investigation (known as PSI). When ordered, they occur after a defendant is convicted and before sentencing. Very few PSI's are ordered in Bucks County, but when there is an identified victim, it provides an excellent opportunity for the victim to give added information to the sentencing judge to consider at sentencing.

The second is attached to a Pre Parole Investigation for an original offense in which there was a victim. When an offender has been convicted of a crime and has been sentenced to the Bucks County Correctional Facility for a term of less than two years, our department will usually conduct a Pre Parole Investigation. There are normally just two exceptions to the need for a Pre Parole Investigation. One is when the judge sentences someone to a period of incarceration and orders a presumptive parole. Presumptive parole means that the offender will be released at the end of the minimum sentence without having to have a Pre Parole Investigation. The second is when the judge sentences someone to "Time Served with immediate parole." Because of the immediate parole, no Pre Parole Investigation is completed on this case.

For more information on PPI's click here.