Honorable Abel Herrero, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3494 by Moody (Relating to the punishment for the offense of graffiti and the creation of a graffiti pretrial diversion program.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure as it relates to the punishment for graffiti and the creation of a graffiti pretrial diversion program. For graffiti offenses causing a pecuniary loss less than $200, the bill would make these offenses Class C misdemeanors rather than Class B misdemeanors. For graffiti offenses causing a pecuniary loss of $500 or more but less than $1,000, the bill would make these offenses Class B misdemeanors rather than Class A misdemeanors. For graffiti offenses causing a pecuniary loss of $1,500 or more but less than $3,000, the bill would make these offenses Class A misdemeanors rather than state jail felonies. For graffiti offenses marking specially protected structures (e.g., school), the bill would require the pecuniary loss total at least $1,500 to be a state jail felony. Also, for graffiti offenses that are Class C misdemeanors, the bill would allow the offender to receive a citation with instructions to appear before a magistrate rather than be taken to appear before the magistrate, which is permitted for Class B misdemeanors under current law. Finally, for graffiti offenses that are state jail felonies or lower level offenses, the bill would allow defendants to participate in a pre-trial diversion program and require that the court dismiss the case if the defendant successfully completed the program.
A Class C Misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 (up to 180 days of deferred disposition; no confinement). A Class B Misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed 180 days and/or a fine not to exceed $2,000. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000. 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).
The bill reduces the penalty for certain graffiti offenses. Reducing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to increase demands on state and/or county correctional agency resources due to longer terms of community supervision, county jail confinement, state correctional institution confinement, and/or parole. When an offense changes from a misdemeanor to a felony, the burden of confining convicted offenders transfers from the counties to the state. However, it is assumed that the number of offenders supervised or incarcerated under this statute would not significantly impact state correctional agency resources. Two groups of graffiti offenses would be lowered from felony to misdemeanor offenses: (1) graffiti offenses causing a pecuniary loss of $1,500 or more but less than $3,000 and (2) graffiti offenses marking specially protected structures (e.g., school) with a pecuniary loss less than $1,500. In fiscal year 2012, there were 2,796 felony arrests, 68 felony community supervision placements, and 36 state incarcerations for these two graffiti offenses.