Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1052 by Guillen (Relating to the creation of an offense for family violence committed in the presence of a child.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code by including in the offense of abandoning or endangering a child, the engagement in conduct that involves family violence and intentionally engaging in the conduct in the presence of a child younger than 17 years of age and was reckless as to the presence of the child. The behavior identified in the bill would be punishable as a state jail felony.
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 persons that would receive enhanced punishment under the provisions of this bill compared to what they would receive under current law. For fiscal year 2004, according to TDCJ admission data, there were 236 admissions to state jail for the offense of abandoning or endangering a child. It is estimated that there were 376 state jail community supervision placements for the offense of abandoning or endangering a child in fiscal year 2004. The number of cases for which the provisions of this bill would apply is unknown; however, it is assumed that the majority of cases would be placed on community supervision and would not represent a significant impact on the demands of adult corrections agencies.