| TO: | Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2229 by Wu (Relating to the penalty for the offense of leaving the scene of an accident that involves personal injury or death.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to enhance the punishment for failure to stop and render aid in an accident resulting in the death of a person from a third degree felony to a second degree felony. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2013, and applies only to offenses committed on or after that date.
A third-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term of two to ten years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. A second-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term of two to twenty years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
The bill’s provisions would increase the penalty for failure to stop and render aid in an accident resulting in the death of a person. This penalty adjustment is expected to increase demands on state correctional resources by increasing the number of offenders eligible for confinement in state correctional facilities.
Data do not exist that allowed the distinction between cases that involved serious bodily injury from cases that resulted in death. However, in fiscal year 2012, there were 296 arrests, 81 community supervision placements, and 98 admissions to prison for the offense of failure to stop and render aid involving serious bodily injury or death. Of those 98 admissions, a total of 80 or 82% were sentenced to five years or less in prison. A total of 18 or 18% were sentenced to six years or more in prison. Only 8 or 8% were sentenced to 10 years or more in prison. Without a variable to distinguish between those cases that involved serious injury and those cases that involved death, it is our assumption that only those who received a sentence of 10 years would likely be subject to the enhancement provisions of this bill and would not significantly impact state correctional agency resources.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | UP, GG, JPo
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