TO: | Honorable Jerry Madden, Chair, House Committee on Corrections |
FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB1888 by Haggerty (Relating to the provision of pay telephone service to inmates confined in facilities operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
---|---|
2008 | $0 |
2009 | $0 |
2010 | $0 |
2011 | $0 |
2012 | $0 |
Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from GENERAL REVENUE FUND 1 |
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from CRIME VICTIMS COMP ACCT 469 |
---|---|---|
2008 | $0 | $7,517,073 |
2009 | $0 | $7,517,073 |
2010 | $0 | $7,517,073 |
2011 | $0 | $7,517,073 |
2012 | $0 | $7,517,073 |
In order to determine the fiscal impact of the bill, assumptions must be made regarding the number of calls that will be made and the duration of the calls made, by eligible offenders. Since TDCJ has had a restricted policy regarding inmate calls (eligible inmates are allowed one five-minute phone call every 90 days for institutional division offenders and one five-minute phone call every 30 days for offenders in state jail facilities), information for making the fiscal impact determination assumptions is not available. However, it is assumed that the provision of the bill requiring an average of eight calls, with each call having an average duration of not less than 10 minutes, would change TDCJ’s inmate telephone usage policy. Policies for inmates in a privately run parole program facility allow more phone privileges compared to current policies for inmates in the TDCJ operated institutional division. Actual revenue based on three months of telephone usage from a privately operated 2,100-bed parole program facility totaled $32,195. The average number of telephone calls for the three month time period was 2,416 calls. Based on these numbers, a parole program inmate will average a phone usage cost of $61.32 per year. Therefore, it is assumed that if all of TDCJ’s 122,580 offenders eligible for phone usage utilized the phone system under a phone usage policy that would be changed to reflect what is currently practiced at the parole facility, there would be approximately $7,517,073 in revenues generated per year. The actual revenue generated would depend on the contract agreement, the number of inmates using the phone service, and duration of the phone calls.
According to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the effect on the state’s cash flow cannot be estimated. The Office of the Attorney General anticipates an increase in inmate law suits; however, the additional work resulting from implementation of the bill would be absorbed with current resources. The State Auditor’s Office estimates that the fiscal impact would not be significant to their agency.
Source Agencies: | 302 Office of the Attorney General, 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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LBB Staff: | JOB, ES, GG, SDO
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