The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes to reduce the punishment for certain drug offenses from a state jail felony to a Class A misdemeanor, and the punishment for certain other drug offenses from a third degree to a state jail felony.  These provisions would take effect on September 1, 2019 and apply only to offenses committed on or after the effective date of the Act.

Decreasing the penalty for any 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 under felony community supervision, a decrease in the length of felony community supervision, a decrease in the number of people admitted into state correctional institutions, and a decrease in the length of stay within state correctional institutions.  In fiscal year 2018, 8,832 people were placed under felony community supervision and 8,136 were admitted into state correctional facilities who would be subject to the provisions of the bill.  Of those subject to the bill's provisions, many individuals would go from incarceration to misdemeanor supervision; others would go from felony supervision to misdemeanor supervision, and the remainder would have their length of community supervision or length of stay within a state correctional institution reduced.

Estimated populations are based on the adult incarceration projections included in the January 2019 Adult and Juvenile Correctional Population Projections report, include a minor time lag, and assume sentencing patterns and policies not addressed in the bill remain constant. The probable impact on adult correctional populations of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five years following passage is estimated as follows: