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
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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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