If you are arrested for a DUI in York County, you will need to complete a Court Reporting Network ("CRN" - pronounced locally as a "crin") evaluation. A CRN costs $50.00, and you will receive a list of CRN providers from the District Court. You will need to call one, set up an appointment, and participate in an interview that takes about half an hour to an hour.

You need to have your CRN done to get into ARD or to enter a plea. If you are sentenced following a trial, you will need to have a CRN done. The CRN is a necessary evil, and it is simply a good idea to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

When you do your CRN, you should get a copy of it. You should get a copy of the CRN to your attorney. The CRN providers are supposed to fax or deliver a copy of the CRN to the D.A.'s office, but this sometimes does not happen. If your attorney has a copy, then it can be delivered to the D.A. without causing any delays or hiccups in your case.

What is a CRN?

It is an evaluation of your personal data and drinking/drug use habits. It is based on information you provide to the CRN interviewer. In York, one of the evaluation tools used is the 58 question Mortimer-Filkins test. This is a test designed to determine if you are telling the truth about your drug/alcohol use through the use of non-obvious questioning in addition to determining if you are a "problem drinker" or drug user. The Mortimer-Filkins assessment also uses information such as BAC at the time of arrest, prior criminal history, and prior traffic offenses.

What is the CRN used for?

The CRN provides statistical data about DUI offenders in PA to the police and to PennDOT. The CRN application is actually a web form filled out on-line with PennDOT. As far as personl consequences of the CRN are concerned (how it can affect you, for instance), the CRN will be used to determine if you will require a comprehensive drug and/or alcohol assessment. This could result in more stringent requirements for you during your sentence or ARD as far drug and/or alcohol treatment go.

If you are required to do more in the way of drug and/or alcohol treatment, it could impact your length of supervision, and it creates another area where things can "go wrong" later on down the road. For instance, if you are required to do more in the way of alcohol treatment, you will be presented with more costs and more opportunities to miss appointments, which means that there are more chances for you to do something wrong. If you are under the supervision of Adult Probation and you do not comply with one of the terms of your sentence, that means that there could be a probation violation or a violation of a condition of your ARD. If you violate your ARD conditions, they can throw you out of the program. If you violate the terms of your probation, you could face extended probation or jail time.

The Mortimer-Filkins test is supposed to be used with 54 scored questions and 4 non-scored questions combined with an interview. It does generate false-positives (meaning that it identifies some people as being problem drinkers when in fact they are not). The false-positive percentage of  on the order of about 20%. 

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