Honorable Tan Parker, Chair, House Committee on Investments & Financial Services
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3503 by Thierry (Relating to the financial abuse of elderly persons; creating criminal offenses.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code to create the offense of financial abuse of an elderly individual. An individual who engages in the financial abuse of an elderly person with criminal negligence would commit an offense, with the punishment ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony. The punishment level would increase in severity based on the amount of pecuniary loss to the victim as a result of the offense.
A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years; a second degree felony for a term from 2 to 20 years; a third degree felony for a term from 2 to 10 years; and a state jail felony is punishable by confinement in state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or Class A misdemeanor punishment. In addition to confinement, most felony offenses are also subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating an offense 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 placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to 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.