Honorable Sarah Davis, Chair, House Committee on General Investigating & Ethics
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2755 by Turner (Relating to the punishment for the offense of tampering with a governmental record; increasing a criminal penalty.), 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 punishment for the offense of tampering with a governmental record. Under the provisions of the bill, tampering with certain governmental records would be punishable as a state jail felony. Under existing statute, tampering with a governmental record is punishable at multiple misdemeanor and felony levels with the punishment based on the specific circumstances of the offense.
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.
Expanding the list of behaviors for which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in an increase in the demand on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to a potential increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2016, 338 individuals were arrested and 47 were placed under misdemeanor community supervision for the offense of tampering with a governmental record under the affected provision of existing statute. 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.