A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in a county jail for a term not to exceed 180 days and in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $2,000. A Class C misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 (up to 180 days of deferred disposition and no confinement).   

Changing the punishment associated with a criminal offense is expected to impact the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to a decrease 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. The bill may have a positive population impact by decreasing the number of people on community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions.  Whether the bill would result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to the lack of information on the amount of marihuana a person possessed in cases for which there is data available.  It is not possible to identify the amount of marihuana possessed to split the population and determine how many individuals this would impact. From fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2020, there were 75,250 arrests for possession of less than two ounces of marihuana. In fiscal year 2018 there were 8,671 individuals, in fiscal year 2019 there were 6,965 individuals, and in fiscal year 2020 there were 2,388 individuals admitted to community supervision for possession of less than two ounces of marihuana.  Information about the amount of marihuana an individual possessed is necessary to identify the cases affected by the provisions of the bill from all cases involving possession of marihuana under two ounces.