Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1747 by Minjarez (Relating to the creation of the offense of mail theft.), 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 creation of the offense of mail theft. Under the provisions of the bill, mail theft would be punishable under various felony levels with the specific punishment level based on the circumstances of the offense.
A second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years, 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, all felony level offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating a new offense 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 a potential increase in the number of individuals sentenced to a term of supervision in the community or a term of confinement within 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.