---
title: "Advisory Committee Notes to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 (1991, 2002, and 2009 amendments)"
citation: "Fed. R. Crim. P. 35 advisory committee's notes to 1991, 2002, and 2009 amendments, 18 U.S.C. app. at 145–47 (2024)"
authority_id: "AUTH-FRCRIM-P-35-ADVISORY-NOTES"
authority_type: "rule"
jurisdiction: "federal_nationwide"
precedential_status: "persuasive_interpretive_commentary"
official_url: "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title18/pdf/USCODE-2024-title18-app.pdf"
url: "https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/authorities/AUTH-FRCRIM-P-35-ADVISORY-NOTES/"
legal_review: "2026-11-01"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Advisory Committee Notes to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35

## Propositions supported

- The 1991 amendment's stated purpose and narrow scope for correcting arithmetical, technical, or other clear error (then Rule 35(c)).
- The 2002 restyling moved former Rule 35(c) to Rule 35(a).
- The 2009 amendment expanded the correction period from 7 to 14 days.

## Quotations

- 1991 note (pp. 145–46): “Subdivision (c) is intended to adopt, in part, a suggestion from the Federal Courts Study Committee 1990 that Rule 35 be amended to recognize explicitly the ability of the sentencing court to correct a sentence imposed as a result of an obvious arithmetical, technical or other clear error, if the error is discovered shortly after the sentence is imposed.”
- 1991 note (p. 146): “The authority to correct a sentence under this subdivision is intended to be very narrow and to extend only to those cases in which an obvious error or mistake has occurred in the sentence, that is, errors which would almost certainly result in a remand of the case to the trial court for further action under Rule 35(a).”
- 1991 note (p. 146): “The subdivision is not intended to afford the court the opportunity to reconsider the application or interpretation of the sentencing guidelines or for the court simply to change its mind about the appropriateness of the sentence.”
- 2002 note (p. 146): “Former Rule 35(c), which addressed the authority of the court to correct certain errors in the sentence, is now located in Rule 35(a).”
- 2009 note (p. 147): “Former Rule 35 permitted the correction of arithmetic, technical, or clear errors within 7 days of sentencing. ... the Committee concluded it would be beneficial to expand this period to 14 days”

## Material limitations

Advisory committee notes explain the rule; they are not the rule's text. The 1991 note was written for former Rule 35(c), now Rule 35(a) (2002 note). Circuit precedent on what counts as clear error controls application.

## Official source and locator

GovInfo, Title 18 Appendix (2024 ed.), Rule 35 notes, printed pages 145–147: <https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title18/pdf/USCODE-2024-title18-app.pdf>


## Used in

- [Rules 35 and 36 — Sentence Correction, Assistance, Record Error, and Appeals](https://jason93.com/legal/federal-process/modules/70-sentence-modification/rules-35-36-and-modification-appeals.md)