The Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission is required by § 17.1-803 of the Code of Virginia to report annually to the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. To fulfill its statutory obligation, the Commission respectfully submits this report.

The report is organized into five chapters. The remainder of the Introduction chapter provides a general profile of the Commission and an overview of its various activities and projects. The Guidelines Compliance chapter that follows contains a comprehensive analysis of compliance with the sentencing guidelines during fiscal year (FY) 2017. The third chapter describes the Commission’s efforts to automate the sentencing guidelines preparation and submission process. In response to a 2016 legislative directive, the Commission reviewed recidivism among released federal inmates and this work is described in the fourth chapter. In the report’s final chapter, the Commission presents its recommendations for revisions to the felony sentencing guidelines system.