Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB240 by Thompson, Senfronia (Relating to the penalty for possession of certain small amounts of controlled substances in Penalty Group 1.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code to indicate the offense of possession of less than one gram of a Penalty Group 1 (includes but is not limited to opiates and opium derivatives, cocaine, and methamphetamines) controlled substance must be a usable quantity of more than 0.02 grams but less than one gram. Under existing statute, possession of less than one gram of a Penalty Group 1 substance is a state jail felony.
A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or Class A misdemeanor punishment, and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
In fiscal year 2016, 33,811 individuals were arrested, 8,075 individuals were placed under felony community supervision, and 7,904 individuals were admitted into the state correctional institutions for possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1. Narrowing the range of amounts possessed for which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to a potential decrease in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. The bill may have a positive impact by decreasing the number of individuals under felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions for possession of small amounts of Penalty Group 1 substances. Whether the bill would result in a significant population reduction is indeterminate because data collected at the statewide level for this offense reflect a range for the amount possessed and not the precise amount possessed. Without this level of detail, the identification of those cases in which the amount of a Penalty Group 1 substance possessed was 0.02 grams or less from all other possession of a Penalty Group 1 substance cases is not possible.