The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to increase the penalty for the offense of delivery of certain miscellaneous substances under the Texas Controlled Substances Act for certain circumstances from a class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony. Under current law the delivery of a miscellaneous substance is a class A misdemeanor.  

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 counties or of the State due to longer terms of supervision in the community or longer terms of confinement state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2014, 35 people were arrested and 10 were placed under misdemeanor community supervision for the manufacture, delivery, or possession of a miscellaneous substance. A statewide repository containing the level of detail necessary to isolate those individuals who delivered a controlled substance and met the conditions for penalty enhancement from all others who individuals arrested and convicted under the statute referenced by the bill is not currently available. However, this analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions for criminal offenses would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations, programs, or workloads.