Honorable Sarah Davis, Chair, House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1090 by Meyer (relating to the criminal penalties for insider trading and other misuse of official information by public servants.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
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 the criminal penalties for insider trading and other misuse of official information by public servants. Under the provisions of the bill, the punishment for the offense of misuse of official information would increase in certain circumstances. The punishment for this offense would range from a third degree to a first degree felony with the punishment level increasing in severity based on the net pecuniary gain to the person committing the offense.
A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years, a second degree felony for a term from 2 to 20 years, and a third degree felony for a term from 2 to 10 years. In addition to confinement, most felony offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the penalty range for any criminal offense is expected to result in greater demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to a potential increase in the number of individuals sentenced to a term of supervision in the community or to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2016, fewer than 10 individuals were arrested and fewer than 10 were placed under felony community supervision for the offense of misuse of official information under existing statute punishable as a third degree felony. 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.