Honorable Robert Nichols, Chair, Senate Committee on Transportation
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB2076 by Rodríguez (Relating to the titling of motor vehicles; creating a criminal offense and authorizing fees.), As Introduced
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Transportation Code as it relates to the titling of motor vehicles. Under the provisions of the bill, knowingly providing fraudulent information or illegally signing the name of another as it relates to the titling of nonrepairable or salvage motor vehicles would be a criminal offense. The offense would be punishable as a third degree felony.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years. 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. 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.