Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1714 by Zedler (Relating to the offense of murder of a child.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Penal Code by creating the offense of murder of a child. The offense would be punishable as a felony of the first degree. The bill would also eliminate the possibility of community supervision for persons convicted of the offense of murder of a child. The bill would take effect September 1, 2005.
A first degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 5 years, or in addition to imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $10,000.
For fiscal year 2004, community supervision data indicate that 17 persons were placed on community supervision for the offense of murder. The bill would only apply to those offenders guilty of murdering a child. Therefore, it is unlikely that a significant number of persons would be impacted by this provision of the bill. Under current law and policy, and under the proposed bill, the average time served in prison by persons likely to be affected by the provisions of this bill is greater than five years, therefore no significant impacts on the demands of the adult corrections agencies are anticipated during the first five years following passage of this bill.