| TO: | Honorable Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Dennis Bonnen, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives |
| FROM: | John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB20 by Huffman (Relating to the prevention of, reporting regarding, investigation of, prosecution of, criminal and civil penalties for, and other consequences of prostitution, trafficking of persons, and related criminal offenses, to treatment, services, and compensation available to victims of those offenses, and to orders of nondisclosure for certain persons who are victims of certain of those offenses.), Conference Committee Report |
The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to trafficking, prostitution, and other related offenses. Under the provisions of the bill, penalties for certain existing prostitution offenses would be modified and a person would commit an offense if the person intends to promote the prostitution of another individual or facilitates another individual to engage in prostitution via an interactive computer service as outlined in the bill. 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; 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 or expanding the circumstances in which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in additional demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to an increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community, sentenced to terms of confinement in state correctional institutions, or placed under parole supervision. Under the provisions of the bill, online promotion of prostitution and aggravated online promotion of prostitution would be punishable at varying felony levels depending on the circumstances of the offense. Individuals confined for aggravated online promotion of prostitution would not be eligible for intensive supervision parole as outlined in the bill. Individuals who pay to engage in sexual conduct (buyer) and have previously been convicted one time would now commit a state jail felony. In fiscal year 2018, 23 people were arrested, fewer than ten placed under community supervision, and fewer than ten were incarcerated for this offense with one or two previous convictions. Under provisions of this bill, a judge would be required to place an individual who offers or agrees to receive a fee to engage in sexual conduct and is convicted of a first state jail felony (seller) under community supervision. At the end of fiscal year 2018, 67 people were incarcerated for this offense with three previous convictions and with no prior state jail felony prostitution convictions. 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.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | WP, LM, SPa
|