The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend the Government Code to create criminal offenses for a person who, without the effective consent of the owner, enters or remains on or in a critical infrastructure facility and intentionally or knowingly damages or destroys the facility or impairs or interrupts the operation of the facility. The bill also creates criminal offenses if the person enters or remains on or in the facility with the intent to commit these actions. These offenses would be punishable as a misdemeanor or felony depending on the circumstances of the offense.

A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and a state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or Class A misdemeanor punishment. In addition to confinement, most felonies may be subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. 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.

Creating a 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 within 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 result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to the lack of information on the number of times a person committed these actions against a critical infrastructure facility as defined by the bill.  In fiscal year 2018, for misdemeanor offenses related to criminal trespass and criminal mischief, 11,488 people were arrested and 1,605 were placed under community supervision. Data do not exist that would allow for criminal conduct for the facility types addressed in the bill's provisions to be identified from all other cases.