The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Government Code as it relates to changing the eligibility for parole for certain individuals serving a sentence for the offense of online solicitation of a minor. Under the provisions of the bill, people who are serving a sentence for the offense outlined in the bill are not eligible for release onto parole supervision until the calendar time served, without good conduct time, equals one-half of their sentence or 30 years, whichever is less, but at least two years. The offense specified in the bill is a second degree felony.
A second-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Increasing the minimum amount of time served before an individual is eligible for consideration for parole supervision is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of the State due to an increase in the amount of time an individual is confined within state correctional institutions. From fiscal years 2018 through 2020, an average of 91 people were arrested, 19 were placed onto felony direct community supervision, and 44 were admitted into a state correctional institution for online solicitation of a minor as specified in the bill. This analysis assumes implementing 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.