Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1807 by Huffman (Relating to the application of certain handgun license laws to certain federal and state attorneys and to the authority of those attorneys to carry certain weapons.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code to exempt certain federal and state attorneys in certain circumstances from the offenses of carrying a weapon in places where prohibited, unlawfully carrying a weapon, and unlawful carrying of a handgun by a license holder. Under existing statute, these offenses are punishable as a Class A misdemeanor or a third degree felony, depending upon the circumstances.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term of 2 to 10 years and an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Exempting certain individuals from prosecution for certain weapons offenses is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to a decrease in the number of individuals sentenced to a term of supervision in the community or a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2016, 598 individuals were arrested, 58 were placed under felony community supervision, and 46 were admitted into state correctional institutions for the weapons offenses addressed by the bill. The data collected at the statewide level does not contain the level of detail necessary to isolate those individuals who would be exempt from prosecution for these offenses from all other individuals arrested, sentenced to a term of supervision, or to a term of confinement for the weapons offenses addressed by the bill. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant reduction in the demand for state correctional resources.