The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to fraudulent use or possession of credit card or debit card information. Under the provisions of the bill, a new offense would be created for mass fraudulent use or possession of credit card or debit card information. The punishment level would range from a third through a first degree felony, with the degree of penalty based on the number of items obtained, possessed, or transferred. The bill would also provide for enhancement to the next higher category if committed against one or more elderly individuals. The offense could be punished, where applicable, under existing statute, the proposed statute, or both.

A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years, a second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years, and 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 also subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.

Creating a new offense is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of the counties and of the State due to more persons placed onto community supervision or admitted into state correctional institutions. The bill may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of people under felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. Whether the bill would have a significant impact on correctional populations is indeterminate due to a lack of statewide data, which could be used to distinguish credit or debit card fraud in general from the particular type of fraud addressed in the provisions of the bill. In fiscal year 2018, 2,838 persons were arrested, 708 were placed onto community supervision, and 681 were admitted into correctional facilities for offenses related to credit or debit card abuse. Data collected at the statewide level do not contain sufficient detail to indicate, of these cases, the number of cases involving counterfeit cards specifically, the number of counterfeit cards per case, or whether the case involved an elderly victim, information, which would be necessary to determine both the applicability of, and the degree of penalty under, the bill's proposed offense.