Honorable Chris Harris, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1490 by Uresti (Relating to the recording of proceedings and the issuance of a warrant to take physical custody of a child in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship; creating an offense.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Family Code by creating the offense of making a false statement regarding child custody determination. Under the provisions of the bill, a person would commit a third degree felony if the person knowingly makes or causes to be made a false statement relating to a child custody determination during a hearing held under certain chapters of the Family Code.
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 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.