The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to recorded evidence and would create the offense of deactivation of a recording device. Under the provisions of the bill, in certain circumstances, the deactivation of a recording device used in a law enforcement investigation would be punishable as a third-degree felony.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Creating an offense for which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in additional demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to an increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. 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.