Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB591 by Minjarez (Relating to the punishment for the offense of aggravated assault.), As Engrossed
The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the offense of aggravated assault. Under the provisions of the bill, certain aggravated assault offenses would be enhanced from a second degree felony to a first degree felony if the actor's conduct resulted in paralysis of the victim.
A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years and a second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years. In addition to confinement, most felony offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which an enhancement to a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in increased demands on the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of supervision in the community or longer terms of confinement within state correctional institutions. The bill may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. Whether the bill would result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to lack of statewide data related to the victim's medical outcome. Data collected at the statewide level do not contain the information necessary to isolate those individuals arrested, placed under felony community supervision or incarcerated for aggravated assault under the circumstances in which the offense would be enhanced. In fiscal year 2016, 2,520 individuals were arrested, 491 were placed under felony community supervision, and 473 were admitted into state correctional institutions for aggravated assault.The enhancements addressed by the bill could result in a significant impact on state correctional agencies, though the impact cannot be determined.