Please note: The following files are in Adobe Acrobat portable document format. See Adobe Reader.
Sex Offender Risk Assessments (SORS, SVPASI, and the SOMB Checklist)
The General Assembly mandated that DCJ develop a risk assessment tool to assist in the determination of sexually violent predators (SVPs) (see 16-11.7-103(4)(d) and 18-3-414.5, C.R.S.). An offender's score on the Sex Offender Risk Scale (SORS) is one of four criteria identified by the state Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) to be included in the recommendation to the court regarding the SVP designation for offenders whose crime qualifies for possible SVP status, per 18-3-414.5(1), C.R.S. The SORS, then, is incorporated into a larger decision-making tool (the Colorado Sexually Violent Predator Assessment Screening Instrument).
The SORS was developed using actuarial methods and cannot be modified without additional empirical research. The non-SORS SVP designation criteria were developed by an expanded membership of the SOMB that convened for the purpose of explicitly defining the statutory criteria. The non-SORS criteria may change over time should policymakers decide to reconsider the current screening process.
Each of the seven dynamic items in the SOMB Checklist (three of which are included in the SORS) statistically correlated with problems in treatment and supervision within the first 12 months following sentencing. The instrument was developed and tested without instructions, yet reliability rates for each item were very high. It has the capacity to be used over time to document an offender's changes in each of the domains.
Accompanying are the SVPASI Handbook, Instrument, and additional resource material.
Handbook 556KB (11/2020; rev. 10/23/2023)
Instrument 816KB (7/23/2021; typo. corrections, 10/23/2023)
The SVPASI Form includes editable fields. Tips to edit the "Instrument."
- To preserve fillable fields, click on the "Instrument" link, then "Save", "Save As", or "Download" the document as a pdf to your desktop.
- The form is best completed in a simple pdf reader (e.g., Adobe Reader, Foxit Reader, etc.)
DO NOT:
- "Print to pdf" (this will eliminate the edit functionality of the fields).
- Complete the form in an internet browser window!
- Attempt to complete the form by editing it using software designed to edit pdf documents!
RESOURCES: Colorado Division of Criminal Justice Adult Sex Offender Risk Assessment Screening Instrument
Progress Report 1.a (June 1999) 78.7KB
English, K., Retzlaff, P., &, Kleinsasser, D. (2002) The Colorado Sex Offender Risk Scale. Journal of Child Abuse, 11, 77-96. 1.01MB