Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee On Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB23 by Martinez Fischer (Relating to restrictions on the use of commercial social networking sites by sex offenders; imposing a criminal penalty.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure as it relates to restrictions on the use of commercial social networking sites by sex offenders and would impose a criminal penalty. The provisions of the bill that relate to the punishment for criminal offenses are the subject of this analysis. Under the provisions of the bill, sex offenders subject to registration would be required to list certain information as part of a social networking profile. Under current law, the punishment for failing to comply with sex offender requirements can range from a state jail felony to first degree felony contingent on the specific nature or frequency of noncompliance.
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. 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.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a penalty is applied is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the state due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail or prison. As of August 31, 2012 there were 71,880 people required to register as a sex offender. In fiscal year 2012, two percent were arrested, one percent was placed on felony community supervision, and one percent was admitted to state jail or prison for failing to comply with sex offender requirements. Although data do not exist that would help identify those sex offenders who are eligible to access social networking sites, in the case of this bill, it is assumed the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies.