LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
February 19, 2001
TO: Honorable Toby Goodman, Chair, House Committee on
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB1118 by Goodman (Relating to the adjudication and
disposition of juvenile conduct and the administration of
the juvenile justice system.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB1118, As Introduced: negative impact of $(1,483,091) 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. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(552,653) *
* 2003 (930,438) *
* 2004 (973,786) *
* 2005 (1,004,246) *
* 2006 (1,084,824) *
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All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Change in Number of State *
* Year General Revenue Fund Employees from FY 2001 *
* 0001 *
* 2002 $(552,653) 1.0 *
* 2003 (930,438) 1.0 *
* 2004 (973,786) 2.0 *
* 2005 (1,004,246) 2.0 *
* 2006 (1,084,824) 3.0 *
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Technology Impact
According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), programming at the
agency would be necessary to allow certain access to restricted records.
Website programming by DPS' Crime Records Services is $95 per hour.
Database programming is contracted at $120 per hour. DPS estimates total
programming costs would be $98,730. Other technology costs include
software, computer, and printer costs at $2,836 for a total of $101,566
for the biennium.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would reduce the number of prior adjudications required for a
youth to be committed to Texas Youth Commission (TYC) for a Class A or B
misdemeanor; thus, resulting new commitments may exceed population
projections. The total estimated 2002-03 biennium cost to TYC would be
$1,303,050. For DPS, costs center around technological changes needed to
implement provisions relative to access to juvenile records. The total
estimated 2002-03 biennium cost to DPS would be $180,041.
Methodology
For increased populations at TYC, the average daily rate ($102) used to
place a youth in contract care was used to calculate additional costs.
Increase in demand for TYC capacity is estimated at 11 for FY 2002, 24
for FY 2003 and FY 2004, and 25 for FY 2005. DPS estimates that 3,000
records will be restricted in FY 2002, 5,000 in FY 2003, 7,000 in FY
2004, 9,000 in FY 2005, and 11,000 FY 2006. DPS estimates the need for
an additional FTE for the first year and an additional FTE each biennium
to process notifications to the juvenile court and perform quality
control on the restricted records.
Local Government Impact
The bill would authorize juvenile justice agencies in a county or region
to jointly create and maintain a local juvenile justice information
system and lists the elements the system would be required to contain.
The Texas Association of Counties reports that a pilot project is
underway in Dallas County, funded by a federal block grant, to develop
software for implementing a juvenile justice information system.
Officials in Dallas County plan to provide the software at no cost to
juvenile justice agencies that choose to establish a regional information
system. The initial costs to the juvenile justice agencies, therefore,
would be for computer hardware and staff to maintain and operate the
system. Continuing operational costs would be for staff. The number of
staff needed would vary, depending on the juvenile offender population
size. Computer hardware purchases would also vary, with most larger
counties able to use existing hardware and smaller counties possibly
needing to purchase a computer system.
The bill would also authorize a justice or municipal court to employ a
case manager to provide services for juvenile cases within the courts'
statutory powers. Salary and benefits of the additional position would
vary by court. An additional position could also result in expenditures
for office space, furniture, and equipment.
Source Agencies: 306 Texas State Library and Archives Commission,
530 Department of Protective and Regulatory
Services, 517 Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug
Abuse, 694 Texas Youth Commission, 655 TX Dept.
of Mental Health & Mental Retardation, 405 Texas
Department of Public Safety, 410 Criminal Justice
Policy Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, JC, AJ, DB