Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1102 by Lucio III (Relating to the penalty for theft of a pet.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Penal Code by adding pets to the list of items for which theft is punishable as a state jail felony. Under current statute, theft is punishable at all offense levels with the punishment level based on the type and value of property stolen. At present, theft does not have specific provisions related to pets.
The bill would take effect on September 1, 2011 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a penalty is applied for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or, longer terms of confinement in county jails or prison. 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 resources and services of those agencies.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.