| TO: | Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1012 by Hilderbran (Relating to the offenses of abuse of a corpse and desecration of cemetery; providing a criminal penalty.), As Introduced |
The bill would move existing statutes applicable to offenses of abuse of a corpse and desecration of a cemetery from the Health and Safety Code to the Penal Code. In addition, the bill would change the penalties for certain offenses related to corpse abuse and cemetery desecration and would add under the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Family Code as a requirement of punishment for all of the offenses that restitution be imposed. The bill would take effect June 1, 2005 if it receives the required two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2005. Provisions of the bill would apply only to those offenses committed or conduct engaged in on or after the effective date.
Changes in levels of offenses could impact the population in a county jail or a state jail, but based on the number of offenses committed on average each year, those changes are not anticipated to be significant. Imposition of restitution, if successfully collected, would help offset some of the costs associated with cleaning and repairing damage caused by applicable offenses.
| Source Agencies: | 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KJG, DLBa
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