| TO: | Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice |
| 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.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted |
The bill would amend the Penal Code by setting the minimum term of imprisonment at 25 years for a sexually violent offense punishable as a felony of the first degree in which the victim is younger than 14 years of age at the time of the offense. The bill lists the offenses of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual performance by a child, aggravated kidnapping (with intent to violate or abuse sexually), burglary (with intent to violate or abuse sexually) as sexually violent offenses.
For fiscal year 2006, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) received 1,310 offenders for the offenses of sexual performance of a child, sexual assault (of a child), and aggravated sexual assault (of a child). Based on a sample of fiscal year 2006 TDCJ intakes for sexually violent offenses committed against children, it is estimated that 920 (70.2%) of the 1,310 offenders committed their offense against children under the age of 14 (1,310 X 70.2% = 920). In order to estimate the future impact of the proposal, the changes proposed for admission and release policy are applied in a discrete event simulation model that calculates the differences in sentencing and release policy based on whether the offenders are treated as second degree felons or first degree felons.
| Fiscal Year | Increase In Demand For Prison Capacity | Decrease In Release Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 13 | 13 |
| 2012 | 16 | 16 |
Given the proposal would apply to offenses committed on or after September 1, 2007, and that under current law and policy, individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses serve a very high percentage of their sentence (90%), the full impact of this proposal will not be realized in the first five years of implementation. The simulation model indicates that the impact of these enhancement provisions of the bill would not be significant in the first five years following passage; however, the additional time served requirements of the bill would likely result in the need for an additional 3,600 beds by fiscal year 2025.
| Source Agencies: | 537 State Health Services, Department of, 696 Department of Criminal Justice
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, GG
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