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 several offenses from a state jail felony to a Class A misdemeanor, and the punishment for other offenses from a third degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor or a fourth degree felony, depending upon the circumstances of the offense.  The fourth degree felony would replace the state jail felony in existing statute and it would be punished in the same manner. Fourth degree felons would be eligible for parole.  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 stay on felony community supervision, a decrease in the number of people admitted to state correctional facilities, and a decrease in the length of stay in correctional facilities.  In fiscal year 2018, 10,378 people were placed under felony community supervision and 14,256 were admitted into state correctional facilities who would be impacted by the provisions of the bill.  Many individuals would go from incarceration to misdemeanor supervision; others would go from felony supervision to misdemeanor supervision, while others would have their lengths of stay on supervision or within incarceration 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: