Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1410 by Bonnen (Relating to the punishment for the offense of attempted murder.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the punishment for the offense of attempted murder. Under the provisions of the bill, attempted murder would be punishable by imprisonment for a period not less than two years and not more than 30 years and a fine of $10,000. Under current statute, preparatory offenses are punished one category lower than the offense attempted making attempted murder punishable as a first degree or second degree felony and is based on the specific circumstances of the offense.
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.
Establishing a minimum term of imprisonment is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of the State due to longer terms of confinement in prison. In fiscal year 2010, less than 15 people were arrested and less than five people were admitted to prison for attempted murder. The average sentence length for those admitted to prison in fiscal year 2010 for attempted murder was 5.38 years. 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.