The provision of the bill that is the subject of this analysis would amend the Transportation Code by enhancing the punishment for the offense of false application in an application for an original, renewal, or duplicate driver ’s license or certificate from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony of the third degree. 

A felony of the third degree 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.

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.

Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon correctional resources.  The impact of the bill on correctional populations would depend on how many persons would be prosecuted under the provision 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 that 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 the resources and services of those agencies.