TO:	Honorable Nicole Collier, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB1540 by Thompson, Senfronia (Relating to regulation of certain facilities and establishments with respect to, civil remedies for certain criminal activities affecting, and certain criminal offenses involving health, safety, and welfare; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal penalties.), As Introduced

The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to general residential operations as defined in the bill.  The bill would expand the child safety zone as it applies to people placed onto community supervision as outlined in the bill and the circumstances for certain felony offenses as it relates to general residential operations as defined in the bill. Under existing statute, the criminal penalty for the offenses affected by the bill's provisions vary and are based on the specific circumstances of the offense.   

A first-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years, a second-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years, a third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years, and a state jail felony is punishable by confinement in a state jail for a term from 180 days to 2 years and, in addition to confinement, an optional fine not to exceed $10,000 or Class A misdemeanor punishment. In addition to confinement, most felonies can be subject to 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.

Expanding the circumstances 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. Data do not exist that would allow for all cases involving a general residential operation as described by the bill to be identified and isolated from all other cases. This analysis assumes 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.