Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB11 by Carona (Relating to the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and punishment for certain gang-related and other criminal offenses and to the consequences and costs of engaging in certain activities of a criminal street gang or certain other criminal activity; providing penalties.), As Engrossed
The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis are the provisions that would potentially have a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies from any provisions of this bill that authorize or require a change in the sanctions applicable to adults convicted of felony crimes.
The bill would increase the punishment of criminal solicitation of a minor to the same category as the solicited offense, depending on the circumstances, if certain elements of a criminal street gang are present. The offense is currently punishable as one category lower than the solicited offense. The bill would broaden the offense of coercing, soliciting, or inducing gang membership to include family members. The offense is punishable as a state jail felony or felony of the third degree depending on the circumstances. The bill would create gang-free zones and increase punishment for offenses of engaging in organized criminal activity to the next higher category of offense if they occur in gang-free zones. The bill would create the offense of directing activities of certain criminal street gangs punishable as a felony of the first degree. The bill would permit sentences for more than one offense arising out of the same criminal episode to run concurrently or consecutively if there is an affirmative finding regarding gang-related conduct unless the defendant’s case was transferred to the court from the juvenile court. The impact of these provisions of the bill on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies cannot be determined due to the unavailability of reliable data or information.
The bill would include graffiti, certain unlawful transfer of certain weapons offenses, and firearm smuggling to offenses punishable as engaging in organized criminal activity. The bill would create the offense of online harassment to further interest of criminal street gang punishable as a Class B misdemeanor, except the offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the actor has previously been convicted. The bill would create new civil action against criminal street gangs for a violation of injunction. The bill would create a finding regarding gang-related conduct to be entered in the judgment of a case if the applicable conduct was engaged in as part of the activities of a criminal street gang. The bill would add to possible conditions of community supervision relating to criminal street gangs. The bill would require juveniles who have been found to have engaged in delinquent conduct that is also gang-related conduct to participate in a criminal street gang intervention program. The bill would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Family Code, Government Code, Health and Safety Code, and Local Government Code as they relate to graffiti, fees and court costs, and aerosol paint. The bill would create the offense of burglary of a building to create graffiti punishable as a state jail felony. The bill would amend the Penal Code relating to the prosecution and punishment for certain criminal offenses involving the use of a false or fictitious identity or identifying document. The bill would create the offense of firearm smuggling punishable as a felony of the third degree or a felony of the second degree depending on the circumstances. These provisions of the bill are not expected to have a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies relating to changes in the sanctions applicable to adults convicted of felony crimes.