Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB852 by Dutton (Relating to abolishing the death penalty.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure by making life without parole the mandatory sentence for all capital felonies and abolishing the death penalty. The Office of Court Administration (OCA) states that the bill would result in lowered costs for state courts by decreasing demand on current judicial resources; however, the OCA does not compile statistics regarding the amount of judicial resources expended on death penalty cases, so the amount of savings cannot be determined. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice anticipates no fiscal impact from the bill.
Local Government Impact
According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA) the bill would have an undetermined positive fiscal impact to local government due to decreased cost of indigent defense for defendants, reduced court operating costs, and reduced prosecutorial and law enforcement resources.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 696 Department of Criminal Justice