Honorable Terry Keel, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2296 by Cook, Robby (Relating to the reduction of certain felonies to a misdemeanor.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code by authorizing a prosecuting attorney to prosecute a felony of the third degree as a Class A misdemeanor. Under current law, a court may impose the confinement permissible as punishment for a Class A misdemeanor for an offender who is convicted of a state jail felony.
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 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.
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.
By potentially lowering the range of sanctions for selected offenders, the bill could potentially decrease community supervision and incarceration populations. Such decreases would depend on the extent to which the punishment for third degree felons would be decreased as provided by the bill.