Honorable Victoria Neave, Chair, House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB822 by Burns (Relating to requiring the expulsion of a public school student who engages in certain conduct that constitutes the felony offense of terroristic threat.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require that a student be expelled from school if the student engages in conduct that contains the elements of the offense of felony terroristic threat. A student could be expelled for conduct containing the elements of misdemeanor terroristic threat.
Under current law, state expenditures related to Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs are determined by a sum certain appropriation to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Funds appropriated to TEA are transferred to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) and are distributed to counties based on a series of formulas contained in TJJD Rider 13, Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. Therefore, under current law, the bill would have no significant fiscal impact to the state.
The Texas Education Agency estimates that there would be costs associated with updating the Texas State Data System to track disciplinary actions associated with the bill. However, this analysis assumes that those costs could be absorbed using existing resources.
This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.
Local Government Impact
According to the Lubbock County, Harris County, and Kaufman County Juvenile Probation Offices, the fiscal impact could be significant depending on the number of referrals to their respective departments. The total impact cannot be estimated at this time.
According to the Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie, Llano, and San Saba County Juvenile Probation Department, no fiscal impact is anticipated.