Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB926 by Hochberg (Relating to creating the offense of absconding from parole.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code by creating the offense of absconding from parole. The bill specifies that a person released on parole or mandatory supervision under a sentence that resulted from a conviction of certain aggravated offenses commits a state jail felony if the offender becomes an absconder and a warrant for the offender’s return is issued. The Act would apply to an offender who becomes an absconder on, or after, September 1, 2005.
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.
The impact of the bill would depend on the number of aggravated offenders who are on parole or mandatory supervision that abscond, have a warrant issued for their return, and then are caught and convicted. As of August 31, 2004, 408 (3%) of the 12,800 reported absconders were on parole or mandatory supervision for an aggravated offense. An offender found guilty of the offense of absconding from parole as proposed by this bill would be subject to serving time in a state jail, along with any time to be served in prison as a result of a revocation of parole or mandatory supervision. An increase in time served could have an impact on the demand for state jail bed space. However, if the offenses were served concurrently, the impact would be negligible. Due to the low percentage of absconders that are aggravated offenders, the bill is not expected to result in a significant increase in the workload for State correctional agencies or the demand for State resources.