The bill would amend the Penal Code to increase the punishment for the offenses of producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child and possessing child pornography. Under the provisions of the bill, punishment for these offenses would be increased from a third degree to a second degree felony or from a second degree to a first degree felony, depending upon the circumstances of the offense. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2019, and apply to offenses committed on or after that date.

Increasing the penalties for these criminal offenses is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the state due to an increase in the length of stay under community supervision and an increase in the length of stay in state correctional institutions. In fiscal year 2018, 80 people placed under felony community supervision and 121 admitted into state correctional institutions would be impacted by the provisions of the bill. Since the average length of stay for the individuals placed under felony community supervision for these offenses under the existing statute is over five years, no impact to felony community supervision populations would be realized in the first five years after the effective date of the bill. The impact to prison capacity would not be realized until the fourth year after the effective date of the bill because the average length of stay for individuals admitted to state correctional institutions under existing statute is over two years and the average time between offense and admission to state correctional institutions is over one year. Estimated populations are based on the adult incarceration projections included in the LBB's January 2019 Adult and Juvenile Correctional Population Projections report, include a 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: