LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 80TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 1, 2007

TO:	Honorable Aaron Pena, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB916 by Menendez (Relating to the prosecution and punishment of dog fighting.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Penal Code relating to the offense of dog fighting to: 1) increase the punishment of causing a dog to fight with another dog from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony and 2) increase the punishment of attending as a spectator an exhibition of dog fighting from a Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor.

 

The bill would take effect on September 1, 2007 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.

 

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.  When an offense is changed from a misdemeanor to a felony, there is a transfer of the burden of confinement and/or supervision of convicted offenders from the counties to the State.  It is assumed the number of persons convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

696 Department of Criminal Justice

LBB Staff:

JOB, ES, GG, LM, TM