The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes relating to specific protective orders for victims of certain offenses and to punishments for violation of these protective orders.  Under the provisions of the bill, certain violations of protective orders would now be punishable as a state jail felony. Violations of certain court orders are punishable at the misdemeanor and felony level with the punishment based on the specific circumstances of the offense.

A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A misdemeanor punishment.  A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one 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 additional 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 in state correctional institutions.  In fiscal year 2018, 2,688 people were arrested, 209 were placed under felony community supervision, and fewer than ten were admitted into state correctional institutions for the offense for which the punishment would be enhanced. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.