LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT STATEMENT
 
82ND LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 1, 2011

TO:
Honorable Byron Cook, Chair, House Committee on State Affairs
 
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB804 by Lewis (Relating to the offense of illegal voting by a person who is not a United States citizen.), As Introduced

The bill would amend the Election Code by creating the offense of illegal voting by a person who is not a United States citizen. Under the provisions of the bill, a person would commit the offense identified in the bill if the person is not a citizen of the United States and votes in an election in this state. The offense of illegal voting by a person who is not a United States citizen would be punishable as a felony of the second degree.

 

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.

 

Under current status, the punishment for the offense of illegal voting in an election in which the person knows the person is not eligible to vote is punishable as a third degree felony, and the punishment for attempting to vote illegally is punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor. Expanding the list of behaviors for which a penalty is applied for any criminal offense or 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 jail, state jail or prison. In the case of this bill, it is expected that individuals who would be affected under the provisions of this bill are currently being sentenced for illegal voting or attempting to vote illegally. In fiscal year 2010, less than five offenders were admitted to prison and less than five offenders were released from prison for illegal voting. In fiscal year 2010, less than five people were under parole supervision for illegal voting. In fiscal year 2010, five offenders were placed on community supervision and less than five offenders were released from community supervision for illegal voting or attempting to vote illegally. In fiscal year 2010, less than five people were arrested for illegal voting or attempting to vote illegally. 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.



Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JOB, GG, LM, ADM