Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3249 by Leach (relating to persons who may be prosecuted for the offense of improper contact with a victim.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Penal Code to make it an offense for a confined individual to engage in conduct that constitutes contact with certain victims if the director of the facility has not received written and dated consent to contact from those victim. Under existing statute, improper contact with a victim is a Class A misdemeanor or third degree felony depending on the specific circumstances of the offense.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Expanding the definition 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, fewer than 10 individuals were arrested, fewer than 10 were placed under felony community supervision, and fewer than 10 were admitted into state correctional institutions for the offense of improper contact with a victim under existing statute punishable as a third degree felony. 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.