TO: | Honorable David Dewhurst, Lieutenant Governor, Senate |
FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | SB23 by Huffman (Relating to the punishment for a capital felony committed by an individual younger than 18 years of age.), As Passed 2nd House |
The bill would amend the Penal Code and Government Code as it relates to the punishment for a capital felony committed by an individual younger than 18 years of age. Under the provisions of the bill, any individual convicted of a capital felony who was 17 years old at the time of the offense shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of life or life without parole. Any individual convicted of a capital felony who was younger than 17 years old at the time of the offense shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of life. Persons convicted under these provisions who are punished with a sentence of life would not be eligible for parole until they had served, without consideration of good conduct time, 40 calendar years in prison.
The bill decreases the penalty for certain offenders convicted of capital offenses. Decreasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to decrease demands on state correctional agency resources due to shorter terms of state correctional institution confinement. In the case of the bill, it is assumed that the number of offenders incarcerated under this statute would not significantly impact state correctional agencies' workload and programs.
Source Agencies: |
LBB Staff: | UP, ESi, GG, JPo
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