Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3301 by Gervin-Hawkins (Relating to the punishment for the offense of injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual and creating the offense of continuous injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.), 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 injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual and would create the offense of continuous injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual. Under the provisions of the bill, the punishment for bodily injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual would be enhanced under certain circumstances. The punishment for bodily injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual would be enhanced from a third degree to a first degree felony based on conduct, age of victim, and the number of certain previous convictions. The punishment for the offense of continuous injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual would be a first degree felony or a felony of the first degree punishable by imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 15 years.
A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 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, most felony offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating a new criminal offense or enhancing the penalty for an existing criminal offense is expected to result in greater demands 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. After reviewing the previous conviction history for those individuals placed under felony community supervision or admitted into state correctional institutions for certain acts of bodily injury of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual 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. In fiscal year 2016, 605 individuals were arrested, 216 were placed under community supervision, and fewer than 10 were admitted into state correctional institutions for offenses related to the bodily injury of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual under the provisions for which the penalty would be enhanced.