Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1320 by Christian (Relating to creating an offense for engaging in certain conduct relating to cockfighting and to the criminal and civil consequences of committing that offense. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Penal Code by creating the offense of cockfighting. The offense would be punishable as either a state jail felony or a Class A misdemeanor depending on provisions specified by the bill. The bill would amend the Penal Code by including the offense of cockfighting in the list of offenses for which the engaging in organized criminal activity provision is applied. The bill would also amend the Code of Criminal Procedure by specifying the destruction or forfeiture of cockfighting equipment following the final conviction of a person for the offense of cockfighting, and in adding to property defined as contraband. It is estimated that implementation of the bill would not have a significant impact on the costs of state or local government.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.