LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
March 20, 2001
TO: Honorable Juan Hinojosa, Chair, House Committee on
Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB988 by Dutton (Relating to the prosecution and
punishment of the offense of prostitution.), As Introduced
**************************************************************************
* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB988, As Introduced: negative impact of $(10,313,733) through *
* the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
**************************************************************************
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(1,886,138) *
* 2003 (8,427,595) *
* 2004 (17,916,281) *
* 2005 (26,392,230) *
* 2006 (33,243,733) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* General Revenue Fund *
* 0001 *
* 2002 $(1,886,138) *
* 2003 (8,427,595) *
* 2004 (17,916,281) *
* 2005 (26,392,230) *
* 2006 (33,243,733) *
*****************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Penal Code by enhancing the punishment for the
offense of prostitution to a felony of the third degree. Under current
law the offense of prostitution is punishable as a Class B misdemeanor,
unless the offender has been convicted previously, in which event it is a
Class A misdemeanor. The bill would also amend the Penal Code by
enhancing the punishment for the offense of promotion of prostitution
from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony of the second degree. The
punishment for the offense of aggravated promotion of prostitution would
also be enhanced from a felony of the third degree to a felony of the
second degree.
The change in law made by this act applies only an offense committed on
or after September 1, 2001.
Methodology
The probable impact of implementing the provisions of this bill would
depend on the application of the proposed enhanced penalties for
prostitution offenses by law enforcement agencies and prosecuting
attorneys. In calendar year 1999, 7,117 offenders were arrested for the
offense of prostitution. For the purposes of this analysis it is assumed
that the enhanced penalties for the offense in prostitution would result
in a term of community supervision (adult probation). Those who
recidivate would have their community supervision revoked and would be
sentenced to serve a period of incarceration in the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice (TDCJ) not to exceed five years. Upon revocation to
prison, these offenders would be eligible for release to parole based on
the parole eligibility requirements for nonviolent offenders.
In order to estimate the future impact of the offense of prostitution
provision of the bill, the changes proposed for admission and release
policy are applied in simulation models, to (1) community supervision;
(2) a prison population for community supervision revocations; and (3) a
parole supervision population for persons released from prison.
Costs of incarceration by TDCJ are estimated on the basis of $40 per
inmate per day for prison facilities, 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. Costs for community
supervision and parole supervision are also included in this analysis.
After five years of cumulative impact, fiscal implications will continue
as long as the provisions of the bill are implemented.
Local Government Impact
The Criminal Justice Policy Council estimates that the local cost for an
individual on community supervision for fiscal year 2000 was $1.04 per
day. Assuming the bill results in an average of 3,500 persons on
community supervision for the fiscal 2002-03 biennium, there would be a
cost of $2,657,200 to local government. The cost per county would vary
depending on how many persons are placed on community supervision for
violations of the offense of prostitution.
Source Agencies: 410 Criminal Justice Policy Council
LBB Staff: JK, JC, JN, GG