Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1218 by Johnson, Eric (Relating to the prosecution of and punishment for the offense of prostitution.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressed by this analysis amend the Penal Code as they relate to the prosecution of the offense of prostitution. Under the provisions of the bill, the offense of prostitution would be punished, under certain circumstances, as a Class A misdemeanor instead of 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 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.
Reducing the punishment for any offense is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to shorter terms of supervision in the community or shorter terms of confinement in correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2016, 355 individuals were arrested, 51 were placed under felony community supervision, and 280 were admitted into state correctional institutions under the circumstances where the offense of prostitution is punished as a felony. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant decrease on the demand for state correctional resources after removing those individuals who, based on previous prostitution convictions, would be eligible for the penalty reduction.