LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
February 23, 1999
TO: Honorable Ken Armbrister, Chair, Senate Committee on
Criminal Justice
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB22 by Nelson (Relating to the eligibility for release
on community supervision or parole for a defendant
convicted of aggravated assault.), As Introduced
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* Estimated two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* SB22, As Introduced: negative impact of $(750,804) through the *
* biennium ending August 31, 2001. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2000 $(225,241) *
* 2001 (525,563) *
* 2002 (1,394,409) *
* 2003 (4,821,212) *
* 2004 (8,716,455) *
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All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* Year General Revenue Fund General Revenue Fund *
* 0001 0001 *
* 2000 $(240,900) $15,659 *
* 2001 (562,100) 36,537 *
* 2002 (1,474,600) 80,191 *
* 2003 (5,117,300) 296,088 *
* 2004 (9,219,900) 503,445 *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by eliminating the
possibility of judge ordered community supervision for offenders adjudged
guilty of the offense of aggravated assault. The bill would also
require persons adjudged guilty of aggravated assault to serve in actual
calendar time, one-half of their sentence or 30 calendar years, whichever
is less, but in no event would the inmate be eligible for release on
parole in less than two years.
The bill would apply to offenders who commit offenses on or after
September 1, 1999.
Methodology
In order to estimate the future impact of the proposal, the changes
proposed for release policy are applied, in a simulation model, to prison
admissions that reflect the distribution of offenses, sentence lengths
and time served. A simulation model is also used to estimate the
decrease in the number of people on parole supervision, due to the
decrease in the number of releases from prison. Included in the
estimated costs is projected savings in parole operating costs.
Costs of incarceration by the Department of Criminal Justice are
estimated on the basis of $40 per inmate per day, reflecting approximate
costs of either operating state facilities or contracting with other
entities. No costs are included for prison construction. Options
available to address the increased demand for prison capacity that would
result from implementation of this bill include construction of new
prisons and contracting with counties or private entities.
After five years of cumulative impact, fiscal implications will continue
to increase as long as the provisions of the bill are implemented.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
Source Agencies:
LBB Staff: JK, MD, GG