Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB524 by Birdwell (Relating to increasing the punishment for the offense of abuse of a corpse.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code by increasing the punishment for the offense of abuse of a corpse. The bill would make abuse of a corpse punishable as a state jail felony. Under existing statute, abuse of a corpse is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.
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. A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in a county jail for a term not to exceed 1 year, and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $4,000.
Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of supervision in the community or longer terms of confinement within state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2016, fewer than 10 individuals were arrested and fewer than 10 were placed under misdemeanor community supervision for the offense of abuse of a corpse under 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.