Honorable Harold V. Dutton, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1120 by Nixon (Relating to certain requirements relating to an application for a marriage license and an affidavit of an absent applicant for a marriage license and to the maintenance of marriage and divorce indexes by the bureau of vital statistics; providing penalties. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The provision of the bill that is the subject of this analysis would amend the Penal Code by making the provision of certain false information related to marriage licenses subject to prosecution for the offense of aggravated perjury. The offense of perjury is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor and the offense of aggravated perjury is punishable as a felony of the third degree.
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 third degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than ten years or less than two years, or in addition to imprisonment, 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. In the case of this bill, the increased workload and demand for resources would probably not be substantial.