TO:	Honorable Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2702 by Krusee (Relating to the construction, acquisition, financing, maintenance, management, operation, ownership, and control of transportation facilities and the progress, improvement, policing, and safety of transportation in this state; providing a penalty.), As Passed 2nd House

The provision of the bill that is the subject of this analysis would amend the Transportation Code by making breaking into or entering a vehicle with intent to commit any felony or theft punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense would be punishable as a state jail felony if the offender has a previous conviction or if the vehicle broken into or entered is a rail car. 
 
The offense of burglary of a vehicle, as listed in the Penal Code, is currently punishable as a Class A misdemeanor unless the vehicle broken into or entered is a rail car, in which case the offense is punishable as a state jail felony.  Since the elements of the offense described in this provision of the Transportation Code and the offense of burglary of a vehicle in the Penal Code are very similar, it is assumed that future offenders for this type of criminal behavior would be convicted under the Transportation Code, since the Transportation Code offense would be punishable as a state jail felony for repeat offenders.  However, assuming that this newly created offense goes into effect September 1, 2005, the state jail felony punishment for such offenders would not be applied until conviction for the second offense under the Transportation Code.  Therefore, it is assumed that this provision of the bill would have no significant impact on criminal justice populations in the first year following passage.  For fiscal year 2007 and beyond, the estimated impact would build gradually through 2010 based on historical convictions of the offense of burglary of a vehicle. 
 
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. 
 
For fiscal year 2004, it is estimated that there were 1,076 misdemeanor probation placements for the offense of burglary of a vehicle.  Based on past sentencing studies, it is assumed that 495 of these offenders have previously been convicted of a burglary of a vehicle offense.  Based on direct court sentencing trends, it is assumed that 256 of the 495 placements would be sentenced directly to a term of incarceration in a state jail facility.  It is also assumed that the remaining 239 placements would be placed under felony probation supervision.  Offenders placed on felony probation would have a revocation rate of 26% after 3 years of supervision.
 
Assuming that sentencing patterns and release policies not addressed in this bill remain constant, the probable impact of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five years following passage, in terms of daily demand upon the adult corrections agencies, is estimated as follows:

Source Agencies:

212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 405 Department of Public Safety, 696 Department of Criminal Justice

LBB Staff:

JOB, GG, BT