Honorable Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB8 by Riddle (Relating to the prosecution, punishment, and supervision of certain sex offenders and to certain crimes involving sex offenders.), As Passed 2nd House
The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by: 1) specifying life imprisonment for persons convicted of certain repeat sex offenses against children in cases which the state does not seek the death penalty; 2) removing the possibility of judge ordered community supervision for certain persons with a previous conviction for the offense of sexual performance by a child, if the victim is younger than 14 years of age; 3) removing the possibility of jury recommended community supervision for certain sexual offenses committed against children younger than the age of 14; 4) removing the possibility of deferred adjudication for defendants charged with the newly created offense of continuous sexual abuse of child or children, or the offense of aggravated sexual assault; and 5) requiring information in the computerized criminal history system to include the age of the victim of certain sex offenses.
The bill would amend the Government Code by: 1) removing the possibility of parole for defendants serving a sentence for certain sex offenses; and 2) removing the possibility of mandatory supervision release for defendants convicted of the newly created offense of continuous sexual abuse of child or children, and the offense of sexual performance by a child if the victim was younger than 14 years of age.
The bill would amend the Penal Code by: 1) amending the penalties for the repeat and habitual felony offenders provision to include the offense of indecency with a child (by contact) and to make punishable as a capital felony the offense of aggravated sexual assault committed against a child age six or younger, or age 14 or younger in connection with administering a controlled substance when the defendant has a previous conviction for the same, or similar offense; 2) creating the offense of continuous sexual abuse of young child or children punishable as a felony of the first degree and punishable by imprisonment for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years; 3) setting the minimum term of imprisonment for the offense of aggravated sexual assault to 25 years if the victim of the offense is younger than six years of age or if the victim of the offense is younger than 14 years of age and the actor administers a controlled substance to facilitate the offense; 4) enhancing the punishment for the offense of sexual performance by a child by one penalty grade if the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time the offense is committed.
The impact of several provisions of the bill cannot be determined due to the unavailability of reliable data or information related to the circumstances involved in the proposals. No data is available on the duration of sex offenses and the number of sexual abuse acts committed that would help in estimating the number of times that the newly created offense of continuous sexual abuse of young child or children would be applied. Also, the impact of provisions of the bill removing the possibility of deferred adjudication and community supervision for the offenses of indecency with a child, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, and aggravated kidnapping, where the victim was younger than 14, cannot be determined due to the unavailability of the age of the victim for such offenses. In fiscal year 2006, 1,449 offenders were placed on community supervision for such offenses committed against children; at present the aforementioned offenses define a child as anyone under the age of 18. The impact of the provision of the bill setting the minimum term of imprisonment to 25 years for aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years of age and administered or provided certain controlled substances with the intent of facilitating the commission of the offense cannot be determined due to the unavailability of reliable data or information relating to the use of controlled substances in the commission of aggravated sexual assault.
Other provisions of the bill are not expected to have a significant fiscal impact given the proposal would apply to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2007, and under current law and policy, individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses serve a very high percentage of their sentence. In fiscal year 2006, there were 831 offenders admitted to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for aggravated sexual assault of a child. The average sentence length was 21 years. Fiscal year 2006 releases from prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child served approximately 95 percent of their sentence. It is estimated that under current law and policy offenders sentenced to TDCJ for aggravated sexual assault of a child will serve approximately 20 years in prison.
The provision of the bill that can be estimated based on available data is the provision that would set the minimum term of imprisonment to 25 years for the offense of aggravated sexual assault if the victim of the offense is younger than 6 years of age. Based on a sample of fiscal year 2006 TDCJ intakes for sexual assault of a child, it is estimated that 178 (21.4%) of the 831 TDCJ admissions for aggravated sexual assault of a child committed their offense against children under the age of 6, which would set the minimum term of imprisonment to 25 years according to the bill. The 178 offenders are then placed in a simulation model that calculates the difference in sentencing and release policy based on whether the offenders are eligible for release according to current statute, or based on the provisions of the bill. The simulation model indicates the impact of this particular provision of the bill would not be fully realized in the first five years following passage. The additional time served requirement of the bill would likely result in the need for an additional 777 beds by the end of fiscal year 2027.