State intermediate punishment became effective on May 18, 2005 and applies to an individual in Pennsylvania and Lehigh County sentenced to a state sentence where they may be eligible for state intermediate punishment if the Department of Corrections has concluded that the individual is in need of drug and alcohol addiction treatment and would benefit from commitment to a drug offender treatment program. This is typically the case where an individual is facing a state prison sentence because of a drug addiction relating to a drug crime. However, other crimes that were committed because of drug dependency can allow a person to be eligible for state intermediate punishment. In order to be eligible, a defendant must have no history of violent behavior from either their past or present. This is 42 Pa.C.S.A. 9903. The following defendants are not eligible for state intermediate punishment: a defendant who sentence includes an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon; a defendant who has been convicted of a personal injury crime as outlined in 18 P.S. Section 11.103 of the crime victims act, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime; or a person convicted of incest, open lewdness, abuse of children, unlawful contact with the minor, sexual exploitation of children, or Internet child pornography.
The assessment for state intermediate punishment is performed by the Department of Corrections and takes place before sentencing, upon motion of the Commonwealth and with the agreement of the defendant. If the department believes that a defendant would benefit from a drug and alcohol treatment program, it will provide the court, the defendant, their Lehigh County criminal lawyer, and the attorney for the Commonwealth with the treatment proposal. When the court receives a Department recommendation that the defendant be placed in a drug offender treatment program, with the agreement of the attorney for the Commonwealth and the defendant, the court may sentence an eligible offender to a period of 24 months of state intermediate punishment if the court finds that: the eligible offender is likely to benefit from state intermediate punishment; public safety will be enhanced by the eligible offender's participation in state intermediate punishment; and sentencing the eligible offender to state intermediate punishment will not depreciate the seriousness of the offense.
The court may also sentence the defendant to a consecutive period of probation as long as the total sentence does not exceed the maximum sentence imposable. The program is 24 months long and contains several components, including prison time, time in institutional and community-based therapeutic communities, outpatient addiction treatment,and a period of supervised reintegration. If the defendant is expelled from a program, he or she returns to jail or prison pending action by the court. Unlike the proceedings for termination of County intermediate punishment, the court is required to revoke a sense of state intermediate punishment, after hearing, if the court determines that the defendant was expelled from or failed to complete the treatment program. Upon revocation of a state intermediate punishment sentence, the sentencing alternatives available to the court are the same as those available at the initial sentencing proceeding. However, the attorney for the Commonwealth is required to file notice prior to resentencing of the Commonwealth's intention to proceed under a statue requiring a mandatory minimum sentence.