BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1869

By: Madden

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law regarding the offense of abuse of official capacity does not allow for the aggregation of the amounts of separate transactions committed in such an offense for purposes of increasing the penalty for the offense. Thus, the degree of the crime actually committed may not be accurately reflected in the charge or punishment. Allowing a series of offenses to be aggregated to accurately reflect the degree of the offense would allow for a punishment that more appropriately fits the crime. 

C.S.H.B. 1869 enables the aggregation of the value involved to affect the punishment of an offense of abuse of official capacity when government property, services, personnel, or anything of value belonging to the government is used in conduct that constitutes the offense.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1869 amends the Penal Code to authorize that the illegal conduct of a public servant, in a case involving separate transactions in which the public servant misuses government property, services, personnel, or any other thing of value belonging to the government that has come into the public servant's custody or possession by virtue of the servant's office or employment conducted pursuant to one scheme or continuing course of conduct, be considered as one offense of abuse of official capacity and to authorize the value of the use of the things misused in the transactions to be aggregated in determining the offense's classification. The bill prohibits the value of the use of the misused thing, for purposes of calculating the punishment of the offense, from exceeding the fair market value of the thing at the time of the offense or, if the fair market value cannot be ascertained, the cost of replacing the thing within a reasonable time after the offense.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1869 differs from the original by authorizing the aggregation of the value of the use of the things misused in the separate transactions of an abuse of official capacity offense to determine the classification of the offense, rather than the value of the funds involved in the separate transactions as in the original.