TO: | Honorable Charles Schwertner, Chair, Senate Committee on Health & Human Services |
FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB1212 by Price (Relating to the prosecution and punishment of certain offenses under the Texas Controlled Substances Act and the regulation and scheduling of certain substances; creating criminal offenses.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted |
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to authorize the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to designate certain consumer commodities as abusable synthetic substances. Depending upon the circumstances, the manufacture, distribution, and retail sale of these substances would be punished as a state jail felony. The bill would also amend the Health and Safety Code to permit certain Schedule I controlled substances to be designated as hazardous controlled substances. The bill would create the offenses of possession and manufacture or delivery of a hazardous controlled substance, both of which would be punishable at various misdemeanor or felony levels, with punishment based on the substance amount.
A second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for two to 20 years, a third degree felony by confinement in prison for two to ten years, and a state jail felony by confinement in a state jail for 180 days to two years. In addition to confinement certain felony level offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating a new offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of the state due to additional persons placed under felony community supervision or admitted into state correctional institutions. This analysis assumes implementing the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations, programs, or workloads.
Source Agencies: |
LBB Staff: | UP, LM, JPo
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