Honorable Todd Hunter, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB397 by Hartnett (relating to rules regarding return of service. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to permit knowingly or intentionally falsifying a return of service to be prosecuted as tampering with a governmental record. The offense would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor with penalty enhancement to a state jail felony if the intent was to defraud or harm another.
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.
Broadening the definition of the types of behavior punishable is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase in offenses. 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.