The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis would enhance punishment to the level of felony.  The bill would amend the Occupations Code by stating a violation of the Prohibited Acts section would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor unless the person has been previously convicted, in which case the offense would be a state jail felony.  If the person commits an offense by knowingly buying stolen regulated material the offense would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor unless the person has been previously convicted, in which case the offense would be a state jail felony.  If the person commits an offense by knowingly selling stolen regulated material the offense would be punishable as a state jail felony unless the person has been previously convicted, in which case the offense would be punishable as a third degree felony.
 
A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in a county jail for any term of not more than one year, or, in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $4,000.

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.
 
A third degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 10 years or less than 2 years, or, in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $10,000.
 
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 of convicted offenders from the counties to the State. The impact of the bill on correctional populations would depend on how many persons would be prosecuted under the provisions of the bill, and the extent to which punishment would be enhanced under the proposed statute compared to existing statute.  For this analysis it is assumed the number of offenders 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.