Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1822 by Burton (Relating to criminal offenses previously compiled in statutes outside the Penal Code, to repealing certain of those offenses, and to conforming punishments for certain of those offenses to the penalty structure provided in the Penal Code; increasing the punishment for sabotage and sedition; imposing a civil penalty.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to criminal offenses and penalties. Under the provisions of the bill, certain punishments would be enhanced or expanded, several would be decreased in certain circumstances, and others would be repealed. These offenses would be punished as a felony with the degree based on the specific circumstances of the offense. The bill would also transfer certain provisions related to punishment to the Penal Code from other sections of statute outside of the Penal Code.
A second degree felony is punishable by a confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years; a third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 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, these felony offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Enhancing the penalty for any criminal offenses 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. The bill would also decrease the penalty for criminal offenses which is expected to result in decreased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to shorter terms of supervision in the community or shorter terms of confinement within state correctional institutions.
In fiscal year 2016, 303 individuals were arrested, 60 were placed under felony community supervision, and 66 were admitted into state correctional institutions for the offenses subject to the provisions of the bill. 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.