Honorable Chris Harris, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1617 by Harris (Relating to the discretionary transfer from a juvenile court to a criminal court of certain alleged offenses arising out of a single criminal transaction.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Family Code to allow for the criminal prosecution of a juvenile in criminal homicide (murder, capital murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide) and intoxication manslaughter cases, regardless of whether the juvenile court retains jurisdiction or not when, after the date of the juvenile court’s decision not to transfer the case, one of the elements of the offense occurs, such as the victim dying. At present, criminal homicide and intoxication manslaughter offenses are punishable at various levels, ranging from a state jail felony (for criminally negligent homicide) to a capital felony (for capital murder).
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 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. A capital felony is punishable by death or life imprisonment.
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. It is expected that individuals who would be affected by the provisions of the bill are currently being sentenced for other offenses.