LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 83RD LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 1, 2013

TO:	Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB705 by Howard (Relating to enhanced penalties for assault of emergency room personnel.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Penal Code to include emergency room personnel, as defined by the bill, for purposes of enhancing the punishment prescribed for the offense of assault. Under the provisions of the bill, assault would be enhanced to a felony of the third degree if the offense is committed against certain emergency room personnel providing services in that capacity. If the actor is a patient and the emergency room personnel assaulted has not received certain de-escalation training the offense would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.

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.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

LBB Staff:

UP, LM, KKR, GG, ESi