Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB496 by Fraser (Relating to the punishment for the offense of evading arrest or detention.), As Engrossed
The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the punishment for evading arrest or detention. Under the provisions of the bill, evading arrest or detention with a watercraft while the actor is in flight would be punishable as a state jail felony and would be punishable as a third degree felony if the actor has been previously convicted of evading arrest or detention.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A Misdemeanor punishment (mandatory post conviction community supervision). A felony of the third degree is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a penalty is applied or increase the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties and or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or, longer terms of confinement in county jails or prison. However, in the case of this bill, 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.