Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB323 by Nelson (Relating to the offense of female genital mutilation.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would amend the Health and Safety Code as it relates to the offense of female genital mutilation. Under the provisions of the bill, the offense of female genital mutilation would be expanded to include engaging in certain behavior that results in such acts to be performed on someone younger than 18 punishable by a state jail felony. The bill would also establish what would not be considered a defense to prosecution.
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 increased 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. 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. 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 female genital mutilation under existing statute.