The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend the Parks and Wildlife Code to create a criminal offense for unlawful commercial sale or purchase of aquatic products. The punishment for this offense would range from a misdemeanor to a state jail felony with the punishment level and fine based on the aggregate weight of the aquatic product sold or purchased.

A Parks and Wildlife Code state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term of not more than two years or less than 180 days. In addition to confinement, an individual adjudged guilty of a Parks and Wildlife Code state jail felony may be punished by a fine of not less than $1,500 and not more than $10,000. A Class A Parks and Wildlife code misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed one year, a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $4,000,or both. 

Creating a new criminal offense is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase of individuals placed under supervision in the community or admitted into  state correctional institutions. Increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of the 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 may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of people on felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. However, 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.