LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 26, 2001 TO: Honorable Juan Hinojosa, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB1336 by Wilson (Relating to reducing or eliminating racial profiling as a law enforcement practice.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would require law enforcement officers to submit a report on every traffic stop made to the law enforcement agency for which they are employed. The law enforcement agency would be required to compile the statistical information and submit a report by March 1 of each year to the governing body of each county or municipality served by the agency. The governing body would be required to analyze the information and submit a report by September 1 of the year in which the information is received to the Commission on Human Rights and each law enforcement agency that submitted information to the governing body. Additionally, the provisions of the bill would require that if a law enforcement agency determines an officer is engaging in racial profiling as indicated by the officer's traffic stop reports, the agency would begin proceedings to terminate the officer and refer the matter for prosecution. Harris County estimates that data collection and reporting for the sheriff's department and the county constables would cost approximately $1.2 million annually. The City of Houston Police Department (HPD) utilizes a computerized system that would allow for minimal costs to implement additional data collection. The city did not have cost estimates for programming and staff to conduct the data analysis and prepare the reports. The Austin Police Department estimates it would cost $400,000 to implement the provisions of the bill and $328,000 annually to continue meeting the requirements. The department anticipates the need to hire additional data entry and technical support staff and to purchase software. The Brazos County Sheriff's Department indicated that implementation costs would be insignificant. The costs for gathering, analyzing, and reporting information would vary by law enforcement agency and governing body based on department size, size and population level of area patrolled, and existing data collection methods in use. The costs could range from nominal to highly significant. The law enforcement agencies and governing bodies could also incur increased costs in legal fees should the firing of an officer result in a lawsuit. Source Agencies: 344 Texas Commission on Human Rights, 302 Office of the Attorney General LBB Staff: JK, JC, GG, DB