Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3 by Thompson (Relating to the imposition of a sentence of life without parole on certain defendants who commit certain sexual offenses.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the punishment enhancement provisions for life imprisonment without parole, which apply to certain repeat and habitual felony offenders convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a young child; including the offense of sexual assault, and the offense of aggravated sexual assault. The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to include certain sexual assault offenses with enhanced punishment as prescribed by the bill, to the list of offenses not eligible for deferred adjudication. The bill would also amend the Government Code to provide that certain 3g felony sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault offenses with enhanced punishment as prescribed by the bill, are not eligible for release on parole. At present, the offense of sexual assault is punishable as a felony of the second degree or a felony of the first degree; the offense aggravated sexual assault is a felony of the first degree, and it is punishable by a minimum time of imprisonment of 25 years in certain cases contingent upon the age of the victim.
A felony of the second degree is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. A felony of the first degree is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Increasing the penalty 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. The population impact as a result of the provisions of the bill will come from defendants who have been previously convicted of certain sexual offenses and who would now be punished by life imprisonment without parole. In fiscal year 2010, less than 5 individuals were convicted of a first degree felony and approximately 50 were convicted of a second degree felony, and sentenced to a term of incarceration in prison for sexual assault. Based on arrest history data, direct court commitments, and revocation rates, it is estimated that approximately 19 percent of those convicted of a second degree felony (who would be currently serving an estimated average sentence length of 8.33 years), would have a criminal history for certain sexual offenses and be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole as a result of the bill. In fiscal year 2010, approximately 50 individuals were convicted of a first degree felony and sentenced to a term of incarceration in prison for aggravated sexual assault; it is estimated that approximately 20 percent of those individuals (who would be currently serving an estimated average sentence length of 21.87 years), would have a criminal history for certain sexual offenses and be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole as a result of the bill. For this analysis, it is assumed 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 for the first five years following passage of the bill.