The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to certain repeat and habitual misdemeanor offenders. Under the provisions of the bill, certain misdemeanor offenses would be punishable as a state jail felony if the defendant, within the past 10 years, has been previously convicted of a felony or a certain number misdemeanors.

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 180 days to two years and an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.

Enhancing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of the State due to longer terms of supervision in the community or longer terms of confinement in state correctional institutions. The bill would have a negative population impact by increasing the number of people under felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. Whether the bill would result in a significant increase in correctional populations and demands on state correctional resources is indeterminate due to a lack of statewide data to allow for an assumption about the number of times the enhancement provision would be used. Based on an analysis of sentencing trends and the criminal histories of those offenders placed under misdemeanor community supervision in fiscal year 2014, 10,681 people could be subject to the bill's enhancement provisions.