Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1431 by Moody (Relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.), As Introduced
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 prosecution of the offense of sexual assault. Under the provisions of the bill, the definition of sexual assault would be modified to include compelling another person to participate in or submit to certain activities by coercion or harm. Sexual assault is punishable as a second degree or first degree felony depending on the specific circumstances of the offense.
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, all felony level offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
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.