The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis are the provisions that would deal with criminal sanctions. The bill would repeal Subchapter E, Chapter 242 of the Health and Safety Code, applying to an offense for failure to report abuse or neglect committed on or after the effective date of this Act. The bill would amend Subtitle B, Title 4 of the Health and Safety Code by adding Chapter 260, reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of residents of certain facilities; incorporating all the provisions of Subchapter E. Under current law and policy, and under the proposed bill, an offense involving the failure to report abuse or neglect is punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor.
 
A Class A Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000.
 
Broadening the definition of the types of behavior punishable is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase in offenses. For this analysis, it is assumed implementing the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources of those agencies.