Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB714 by Quintanilla (Relating to the punishment for criminal simulation committed against an elderly person.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code by enhancing the punishment for the offense of criminal simulation from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony if the offender defrauded or harmed an elderly individual. An elderly individual is defined as a person 65 years of age or older.
A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed $4,000, or both fine and imprisonment.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for any term of not more than two years or less than 180 days, or in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $10,000.
Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jails or prison. When an offense is changed from a misdemeanor to a felony, there is a transfer of the burden of confinement of convicted offenders from the counties to the State. An analysis of misdemeanor probation placements for the offense of criminal simulation indicated a small number of probation placements. In addition, the bill would apply only to those offenders harming elderly individuals; therefore, it is assumed that the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.