LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT STATEMENT
 
79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 29, 2005

TO:
Honorable Jerry Madden, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB1858 by Uresti (Relating to the prosecution, treatment, and rehabilitation of certain sex offenders.), As Introduced

The provision of the bill that is the subject of this analysis would amend the Penal Code by enhancing the punishment for the offense of possession or promotion of child pornography, in cases where the offense is currently punishable as a felony of the third degree, to a felony of the second degree. 
 
A third degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than 2 years, or, in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $10,000.
 
A second degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 20 years or less than 2 years, or, in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $10,000.
 
For fiscal year 2004, there were 53 admissions to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for the offense of possession or promotion of child pornography, with 46 of the admissions punishable as third degree felons, and seven of the admissions punishable as second degree felons.  Based on a comparison of sentence lengths of the third degree and second degree offenders admitted for this offense, it is unlikely that the enhancement provision of the bill would result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies. 


Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JOB, GG