Opinion ID: 2294072
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: The Board of Review's Compliance with Regulations

Text: Section 11-37.1-6(1)(b) provides as follows: [T]he sex offender board of review will utilize a validated risk assessment instrument and other material approved by the parole board to determine the level of risk an offender poses to the community and to assist the sentencing court in determining if that person is a sexually violent predator. Pursuant to the statute, the Rhode Island Parole Board Sex Offender Community Notification Unit promulgated the Sexual Offender Community Notification Guidelines. These guidelines govern the board of review's sex offender risk assessment procedures. Addendum 1 to the guidelines (entitled Sex Offender Risk of Re-Offense Assessment Factors) reads as follows: Each risk of re-offense assessment decision shall be made on the basis of the facts of each individual case, after review of appropriate documentation. The following fifteen (15) facts will be considered in each risk level determination. The factors listed below should be considered in conjunction with those facts that have already been articulated in RI General Laws § 11-37.1-1. [43] This language clearly requires the board of review to consider each of the listed factors in each risk level determination. The board of review did not provide the Superior Court with any documentation specifically and explicitly substantiating the state's assertion that the board considered each of the factors listed in the guidelines in the course of conducting appellant's risk assessment. In its report and supplementary attachment, the board of review stated that, in performing its risk assessment, it considered available [documents], including criminal record, police, institutional, probation/parole supervision, and treatment information. The state contends before us that these documents encompassed most, if not all, of the Guideline factors. Although we may fairly say that the board of review's elucidation of its analysis of the listed factors was lacking, a careful reading of the record reveals that the board of review did, at a basic level, consider all the factors required by the guidelines in assessing appellant's risk of re-offense. The board of review had access to a number of relevant documents including: (1) memoranda from appellant's probation supervisors (including information about his family relationships, his employment status, and his compliance with the terms of his probation); (2) his therapist's evaluation of appellant's progress in counseling; (3) the May 2000 report of the Board of Review of Sexually Violent Predators; (4) Dr. Wincze's 1999 psychological assessment of appellant; (5) Dr. Seghorn's 1999 psychological and sexual assessment of appellant; and (6) criminal docket sheets, witness statements, and other documents relating to the 1998 sexual assaults. We are satisfied that, as a whole, these documents address each of the factors enumerated in the guidelines. We do note, however, that the opacity and brevity of the board of review's report almost certainly rendered judicial review of its assessment significantly more complicated than was necessary or desirable. Although the board of review used a validated risk assessment instrument ( viz., the STATIC-99) to determine Mr. Germane's risk for future offenses, it found that the results yielded by that instrument underrepresented the likelihood that appellant would recidivate. See Sex Offender Board of Review Risk Assessment Report dated March 2, 2005. The board of review supplemented its report on June 1, 2005 with a one page attachment briefly elaborating its reasons for assigning appellant a higher risk level than that predicted by the STATIC-99. In that document, the board of review makes several ambiguous statements of fact regarding his offenses. Both reports are largely conclusory and offer little insight into the board of review's decision-making process (a deficiency which is particularly troubling in this case given the discrepancy between appellant's STATIC-99 risk assessment and the risk level ultimately assigned by the board of review). There are numerous practical reasons why basic fact-finding by the board of review should be thoroughly and transparently documented in any report transmitted to the Superior Court. We have previously explained why administrative bodies should be meticulous about documenting the fact-finding process that underlies their decisions. For example, in Hooper v. Goldstein, 104 R.I. 32, 241 A.2d 809 (1968), we wrote as follows: The reasons [for documenting the fact finding process] have to do with facilitating judicial review, avoiding judicial usurpation of administrative functions, assuring more careful administrative consideration, helping parties plan their cases for rehearings and judicial review, and keeping agencies within their jurisdiction. Id. at 44, 241 A.2d at 815 (quoting 2 Davis, Administrative Law Treatise, § 16.05 at 444) (1958). [44] We would add that another benefit of a meticulous fact-finding process is that it permits meaningful public scrutiny of the actions of government. See, e.g., Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia, 435 U.S. 829, 839, 98 S.Ct. 1535, 56 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978); Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469, 492, 95 S.Ct. 1029, 43 L.Ed.2d 328 (1975). Each of the foregoing considerations is applicable in the context of the registration and community notification process. It is profoundly to be hoped that, in the future, the board of review will better conform its practices to these sagacious principles underlying our administrative system. A procedure whereby the reviewing courts can with relative speed and ease determine whether or not the board of review complied with the guidelines should be a desideratum of the highest order. Thorough and detailed documentation of the board of review's determinations is particularly desirable in cases (like appellant's) in which the board of review's risk assessment diverges from the risk of recidivism predicted by the STATIC-99 or a similar risk assessment instrument. The board of review has discretion to adjust an individual sex-offender's risk assessment up or down depending on case-specific dynamic factors. In such cases, however, it is preferable that the board of review prepare its report so as to transparently document its assessment process, bearing in mind that any degree of opacity renders the task of judicial review far more difficult. B