TO:	Honorable Lois W. Kolkhorst, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB182 by Miles (Relating to the required report of criminal offenses committed against individuals receiving certain state agency services; creating a criminal offense.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

The bill would require each employee of the department or of a department contractor who becomes aware of conduct constituting a criminal offense another employee of the department or department contractor commits against a person receiving services from the department or a department contractor shall report the offense to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The bill would also establish a criminal offense if a person is required to make a report and knowingly fails to do so. Although creating a new criminal penalty could result in an increase in revenue due to court costs associated with a criminal offense, the extent to which state revenue would be impacted cannot be estimated.

The component of the bill related to reporting a offense to DPS cannot be determined because it is unknown how many reports DPS would need to respond to.

It is assumed that any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.

It is assumed that any related costs for the Department of Family and Protective Services, Office of Court Administration and the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, can be absorbed within existing resources. 

Local Government Impact

It is assumed that any fiscal impact to units of local government associated with enforcement, prosecution, supervision, or confinement would not be significant.