Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB401 by Villalba (Relating to civil or criminal liability for leaving certain animals unattended in or removing certain individuals or animals from a motor vehicle.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressed by this analysis would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the offense of cruelty to non-livestock animals. Under the provisions of the bill, leaving an animal unattended in a motor vehicle under certain circumstances would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony with the punishment based on the number of certain previous convictions.
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. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in a county jail for a term not to exceed one year and/or a fine not to exceed $4,000.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a criminal penalty is applied 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 in state correctional institutions. However, this analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact on the demand for state correctional resources.