TO:	Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB3520 by Riddle (Relating to the punishment prescribed for burglary of a vehicle and to grants of community supervision to persons who commit that offense.), As Introduced

Under the provisions of the bill the Penal Code would be amended by making the offense of burglary of a vehicle punishable as a state jail felony. Under current statute, burglary of a vehicle is punishable as a state jail felony if the defendant has previously been convicted two or more times otherwise the offense is punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor. The bill would also amend the Code of Criminal Procedure and require the judge to suspend the imposition of a sentence and place on community supervision an offender who meets certain requirements. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2009.
 
A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed $4,000, or both fine and imprisonment. 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.
 
In fiscal year 2008, there were 12 persons placed on felony community supervision and 30 persons admitted to state jails for the offense of burglary of a vehicle punishable as a state jail felony. Under current statute, burglary of a vehicle is punishable as a state jail felony if the defendant has previously been convicted two or more times. The population impact as a result of the provisions of the bill will come from defendants whose offense were previously punished as a Class A misdemeanor but would now be punished as a state jail felony. In fiscal year 2008, it is estimated there were 669 individuals placed on misdemeanor community supervision for the offense of burglary of a vehicle. Based on arrest history data, direct court sentencing trends, and revocation rates, approximately 4 percent of the individuals convicted would be sentenced to a term of incarceration in a state jail as either a direct court commitment or as a result of felony community supervision revocation and the remainder of the individuals would be placed under felony probation supervision annually as a result of the bill. The bill also includes conditions for which the enhancement provision would not apply, resulting in a decrease in the demand for state jail capacity.  However, data necessary to estimate the impact of such conditions is not available so the impact on future populations from these conditions is not included in this analysis. 
 
Assuming that sentencing patterns and release policies not addressed in this bill remain constant, the probable impact of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five years following passage, in terms of daily demand upon the adult corrections agencies, is estimated as follows: