The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis.  The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to aggravated assault offenses as part of a mass shooting. Under the provisions of the bill, an actor who commits aggravated assault as part of a mass shooting would commit a first degree felony and would serve consecutive sentences in certain circumstances as outlined in the bill. Under existing statute, aggravated assault is punishable as a second or first degree felony depending 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 and a second degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 20 years. In addition to confinement, most felonies have an optional fine not to exceed $10,000. 

 

Requiring consecutive sentences and increasing the criminal penalty for a criminal offense is expected to result in additional demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to an increase in the length of supervision and the number of individuals placed onto felony community supervision in the community, length of stay and number of individuals sentenced to terms of confinement in state correctional institutions, or number of individuals placed onto parole supervision. The bill may have a negative population impact by increasing the number of people and amount of time under felony community supervision or incarcerated within state correctional institutions. From fiscal years 2018 through 2020, an average of 18,020 people were arrested, 2,331 were placed onto felony direct community supervision, and 2,578 were admitted into a state correctional institution for aggravated assault under existing statute. Whether the bill would result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to the lack of information on the number of persons who committed aggravated assault as part of a mass shooting.