A U.S. Sentencing Commission staff member said the commission approved a revised Statement of Reasons form (AO Form 245) that will take effect Nov. 1, 2025, and that courts must use the form to document the reasons sentences are imposed, including any sentence outside the applicable guideline range.

The change reflects a Commission amendment that removes "departures" from the Sentencing Guidelines manual in most cases while preserving departures under Section 5K1.1 for substantial assistance, the presenter said. "We have a 99.9% submission rate, so you all do an amazing job of getting those documents to us," the staff member said, thanking courts and probation offices for timely submissions.

Why it matters: the Statement of Reasons is one of five documents courts send to the U.S. Sentencing Commission after sentencing for data collection and research used in guidelines development. The revised form clarifies where and how courts should record guideline calculations, mandatory minimum findings, plea-agreement status, reasons for sentences imposed outside guideline ranges, restitution decisions and other case-specific facts.

Key changes and guidance

- Effective date and scope: The revised Statement of Reasons (AO Form 245) takes effect Nov. 1, 2025. The presenter said the revision reflects Commission decisions to remove most departures from the manual and to codify current practice in which courts frequently use variances rather than departures.

- Departures vs. variances: The manual change removes departures except for the Section 5K1.1 departure for substantial assistance to the government. The presenter described that exception and said courts should continue to document substantial-assistance reductions under Section 5K1.1.

- Structure and sections: The form contains eight sections. The presenter reviewed each section and how courts should complete them: Section 1 (findings on the presentence investigation report), Section 2 (mandatory minimums), Section 3 (plea agreement determination), Section 4 (court determination of the guideline range), Section 5 (whether sentence is within, below or above the guideline range), Section 6 (reasons for sentences outside the range), Section 7 (restitution), and Section 8 (additional space for explanations).

- Examples and documentation details: The presenter gave two examples courts should document in Section 1 when they adopt a presentence report with changes: (1) a drug-quantity recalculation that changes a base offense level from 22 (40–50 grams) to 20 (30–40 grams), and (2) a change in an offender-role adjustment from a four-level minimal-participant reduction to a two-level minor-participant reduction under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines §3B1.2. The presenter emphasized that when Section 1 box b is checked, the related subitems (b1–b4) should be completed to show which guideline calculations were changed.

- Guideline-range entry and sentence placement: Section 4 should reflect the court’s guideline-range determination prior to accounting for substantial-assistance or other outside-range reductions. If there is a mandatory consecutive term tied to another count, the presenter advised entering the guideline range for the primary count and writing the mandatory consecutive term beside it. Supervised release is entered as a range; recent amendments mean many ranges will be “0 to [maximum]” when no minimum is required.

- Documenting location of sentences within ranges: If a sentence falls within a guideline range where the difference between the range minimum and maximum exceeds 24 months, the court must record the reason for imposing the sentence at the chosen point within the range, citing 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) or other statutory factors as applicable.

- Sentences outside the range: Section 6 has two parts. Part A captures reductions for substantial assistance; Part B captures other reasons courts impose sentences outside the range (nature and circumstances of the offense; history and characteristics of the defendant; and many listed subcategories). The presenter stressed that Part A and Part B are not mutually exclusive and that courts should check all boxes that apply and specify details where prompted.

- Mandatory minimums and statutory exceptions: Section 2 provides three options: (a) a mandatory minimum applied and the sentence is at or above that minimum; (b) the government withdrew or declined to apply a statutory enhancement or the sentence is affected by a substantial-assistance motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) or by the statutory ‘‘safety valve’’ under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f); or (c) no count carried a mandatory minimum. The presenter instructed courts to select the correct option and to record the factual basis when a mandatory minimum is found not to apply.

- Plea-agreement determination and restitution: Section 3 captures whether there was a nonbinding plea agreement, a binding plea agreement under Rule 11(c)(1)(C), or no plea agreement. Section 7 provides boxes for restitution: not applicable, total ordered, statutory reasons restitution was not ordered (single selection), or partial restitution with a brief explanation.

- Organizational defendants: The presenter noted a new Statement of Reasons form for organizational defendants (AO Form 245E) and said an e-learning course on organizational guidelines is available on the Commission’s website; the AO Form 245E is linked from that course.

- Practical completion notes: The presenter reminded users that Section 8 is a catchall for extended explanations when form fields lack space; that the defendant residence line should reflect the last residence before arrest or voluntary surrender (not the BOP facility or local detention); and that the form includes a separate date for the date the sentence was pronounced and the date the judge signed the Statement of Reasons.

Resources and contacts

The presenter directed users to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s website (ussc.gov) for an e‑learning course and a step‑by‑step completion guide and provided an agency contact option for additional questions (the presenter referenced the Commission’s email contact and helpline listed on the website).

What this does not do

The presentation does not change substantive statutes or create new sentencing authorities; it clarifies how courts should document sentencing decisions on the Statement of Reasons form and aligns the form with recent guideline amendments, the presenter said.

Ending

The presenter again thanked courts and probation offices for timely submissions that support the Commission’s research and guideline work and reiterated the Nov. 1, 2025, effective date for the revised form.