Honorable Nicole Collier, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB335 by Dutton (Relating to the penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marihuana and eligibility for placement on community supervision or on deferred adjudication community supervision for that offense.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB335, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($832,390) through the biennium ending August 31, 2021; however, there are impacts to several General Revenue-Dedicated accounts and Other Funds under this bill's provisions as listed below.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2020
($416,195)
2021
($416,195)
2022
($416,195)
2023
($416,195)
2024
($416,195)
Fiscal Year
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from General Revenue Fund 1
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from Judicial Fund 573
Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from Various General Revenue-Dedicated Accounts
2020
($416,195)
($233,475)
($466,443)
2021
($416,195)
($233,475)
($466,443)
2022
($416,195)
($233,475)
($466,443)
2023
($416,195)
($233,475)
($466,443)
2024
($416,195)
($233,475)
($466,443)
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend various codes as they relate to the penalties for the criminal offense of possession of one ounce or less of marihuana. The bill would reduce the penalty for possession of one ounce or less of marihuana from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor and modifies the Class B misdemeanor to possession of two ounces or less but more than one ounce. The bill would also allow for the possession of one ounce of marihuana or less to be enhanced and community supervision to be modified in certain circumstances.
Methodology
Reducing the penalties for this criminal offense is expected to result in fewer demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to a decrease in the number of people placed on misdemeanor community supervision. There is no data or information available to distinguish the number of times people were placed onto community supervision for possession of marihuana amounts of one ounce or less from those two ounces or less. In fiscal year 2018, 13,391 people were placed on misdemeanor community supervision for possession of two ounces or less of marihuana. Under the provisions of the bill, some of these individuals would no longer be placed on community supervision. The fiscal implications due to the decrease in placements onto community supervision cannot be determined.
Based upon case data from fiscal year 2018 and assuming a similar caseload in future years, the Office of Court Administration estimates there were 39,164 convictions or orders of deferred adjudication in new Class A or B possession cases. According to the Department of Public Safety, 96 percent of convictions for Class A and B misdemeanor possession cases were for Class B possession of less than two ounces of marihuana, resulting in a total of 37,597 convictions or deferred adjudications. The portion of this caseload involving cases of an ounce or less of marihuana is unknown; however, the OCA estimate assumes 90 percent of these cases involved an ounce or less of marihuana resulting in a total of 33,837 convictions or deferred adjudications.
Total court costs vary depending on the county and any additional services performed. The estimate provided by OCA assumes an average court cost of $272 for Class B misdemeanors of which $129.50 is remitted to the State and $142.50 is retained by the county. Assuming a collection rate of 55 percent for county courts, the State would realize an annual revenue loss of $2,410,040 (33,837 convictions x $129.50 x 55 percent collection rate) from court cost revenue that would previously have been collected for Class B possession cases, but which would not be collected under the provisions of the bill. This includes an estimated revenue loss to the General Revenue Fund and the Judicial Fund, $446,648 and $279,155 respectively.
The estimate provided by OCA assumes average court cost of $67 for Class C misdemeanors of which $47.80 is remitted to the State and $19.20 is retained by the county. Assuming a collection rate of 80 percent for county courts, the State would realize an annual revenue gain of $1,293,927 (37,597 convictions x $47.80 x 80 percent collection rate) from court cost revenue that would now be collected for Class C possession cases under the provisions of the bill. This includes an estimated revenue gain to the General Revenue Fund and the Judicial Fund, $30,453 and $45,680 respectively.
In addition to impacts to the General Revenue Fund and Judicial Fund No. 573 as shown above, the following General Revenue-Dedicated accounts would see annual revenue impacts as shown in the table below. This includes revenue collected through the consolidated court cost which is distributed to various General Revenue-Dedicated accounts pursuant to Local Government Code 133.102.
General Revenue-Dedicated Account Revenue Impact
Law Officer Standards and Education, Account 116 ($20,799) Correctional Management Institute of Texas, Account 5083 ($5,026) Criminal Justice Planning, Account 421 ($52,184) Crime Victims Compensation, Account 469 ($156,439) Crime Stoppers Assistance, Account 5012 ($1,073) Breath Alcohol Testing, Account 5013 ($2,289) Center for Study and Prevention of Juvenile Crime & Delinquency, Account 5029 ($5,026) Fair Defense, Account 5073 ($58,952) Emergency Radio Infrastructure Fund, Account 5153 ($23,239) Statewide Electronic Filing System, Account 5157 ($93,052) Truancy Prevention and Diversion, Account 5164 $27,070 Judicial and Court Personnel Training, Account 540 ($20,103) Law Enforcement Management Institute, Account 581 ($9,013) Law Enforcement Retirement Fund, Account 977 ($46,318) Total ($466,443)
Local Government Impact
According to OCA, a revenue loss is anticipated to local governments of an estimated $4,821,773 from the reduction of Class B misdemeanor cases to Class C misdemeanor cases. However, revenue from collections in the Class C cases will offset the loss by an estimated $649,670. In addition, OCA estimates a savings of $6,532,496 in fees paid to court appointed counsel. Additionally, decreases in cost associated with confining defendants and placing defendants on probation, which is a typical punishment in cases involving small amounts of marihuana, will offset any losses. Although counties may see a decrease in revenue from fines, as the maximum fine in a Class C misdemeanor is $500, whereas the maximum fine in a Class B misdemeanor is $2,000; counties will be able to offset losses by imposing a special expense fee on defendants receiving deferred disposition in the Class C cases.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 696 Department of Criminal Justice