LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
Revision 1
 
April 12, 2005

TO:
Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB126 by Berman (Relating to the penalty for tampering with a governmental record required for enrollment in a public school and to residency requirements for public school enrollment.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Penal Code by making it a Class C misdemeanor offense to tamper with a governmental record that is required for enrollment of a student in a school district and was used by the actor to establish the residency of the student. The bill also would amend the Education Code by allowing a school board to enroll a non-resident student if the student's grandparent resides in the district and provides a substantial amount of after-school care for the student.

The bill would take effect immediately if it receives the required two-thirds vote in both houses; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2005 and would apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date.


Under current statute, an offense of tampering with a governmental record that is a public school record is a third degree felony. The proposed addition to statute would specify that if the record relates to establishing a student's residency related to enrollment in a school district it would be a lesser offense than tampering with other school-related government documents.


Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. The board of trustees of a school district may spend more time at board meetings hearing the petitions of eligible non-resident students, but this is not expected to add to the costs of the school board.


Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 701 Central Education Agency
LBB Staff:
JOB, KJG, DLBa