TO:	Honorable Dade Phelan, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1240 by Coleman (Relating to the offense of failure to comply with an order from a fire marshal and the authority of certain county employees to issue citations for certain violations; changing a criminal penalty.), As Passed 2nd House

The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend the Local Government Code as it relates to the offense of failure to comply with an order from a fire marshal and the authority of certain county employees to issue citations for certain violations. Under the provisions of the bill, the applicability of penalties for the failure to comply with an order to correct a fire or life safety hazard would range from a Class C misdemeanor through a state jail felony.

A state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years or a class A misdemeanor.  In addition to confinement, most felonies have 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.  A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in 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).

Expanding the applicability of 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. On average, for fiscal years 2018 through 2020, fewer than ten people were arrested, fewer than ten were placed on direct community supervision, and fewer than ten were admitted into a state correctional institution for failure to comply with an order to correct a fire or life safety hazard under existing statute. 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.