Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1178 by Kuempel (Relating to the punishment for burglary and theft involving controlled substances.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted
The provisions of the bill that would amend the Penal Code as it relates to certain burglary and theft offenses are the subject of this analysis . Under the provisions of the bill, certain burglary offenses would be enhanced from a state jail felony to a third degree felony. The bill would also make theft of a controlled substance under certain circumstances a third degree felony. A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and 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. In addition to confinement, most felony offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Increasing the penalty for any offense is expected to result in increased demands upon correctional resources of the state due to longer terms of supervision in the community or longer terms of confinement in state correctional institutions. The bill may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of individuals 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 type of building or vehicle burglarized with the intent to commit theft of a controlled substance. Data collected at the statewide level do not contain the detail necessary to isolate those individuals arrested, placed under felony community supervision, or incarcerated for burglary of a building or vehicle under the circumstances in which the offense would be enhanced. In fiscal year 2016, 4,596 people were arrested, 851 were placed under felony community supervision, and 1,354 were admitted to state correctional institutions for burglary of a building. In fiscal year 2016, 5,264 people were arrested, and 657 were placed under felony community supervision for burglary of a vehicle. The punishment enhancements could significantly expand the number of individuals subject to prosecution under the offense of theft. This expansion could result in a significant impact on state correctional agencies, though the impact cannot be determined.