Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3240 by Phillips (Relating to the penalty for delivery of certain miscellaneous substances under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Health and Safety code as it relates to the delivery of a controlled substance to a child. Under the provisions of the bill, delivery of a controlled substance not listed in penalty group to a child would be punishable as a state jail felony.
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).
Expanding the list of substances for which delivery is a criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties and or of the state due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jail, state jail, or prison. It is assumed the provisions of the bill would apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of the act. 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.