Honorable Jim Murphy, Chair, House Committee on Corrections
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1897 by Villalba (Relating to the punishment for certain offenses involving family violence; changing the eligibility for parole and mandatory supervision for those offenses.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to the punishment for certain family violence assault offenses. The bill would enhance the punishment for assault from a third degree felony to a second degree felony if the offender has been previously convicted two or more times of certain offenses against family members. The bill would require offenders who receive community supervision for this offense to submit to two years of confinement. The bill would add certain restrictions to parole eligibility for these offenders.
Enhancing felony punishment levels and restricting parole eligibility is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of the state. In fiscal year 2014, 2,996 people were arrested, 662 were placed under felony community supervision, and 1,542 were admitted into state correctional institutions for the third degree felony offense of assault against a family member with a previous conviction. The bill's enhancement provisions would apply to offenders convicted of assault against a family member with two or more previous convictions for certain offenses. Whether the bill would result in significant demand on correctional capacity and the correctional resources of the state is indeterminate due to a lack of reliable data regarding the number of previous convictions possessed by offenders who would be subject to the bill's provisions.