Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB516 by Huffman (Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of criminal mischief involving impairment or interruption of access to an automated teller machine.), As Introduced
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 the offense of criminal mischief involving impairment or interruption of access to an automated teller machine. Under the provisions of the bill, an individual engaging in activity involving impairment or interruption of access to an automated teller machine regardless of monetary damages would be commit an offense punishable as a third degree felony. Under existing statute, offenses involving automated teller machines are punishable as a second degree 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, 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. In addition to confinement, most felony offenses are subject to 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. In fiscal years 2018 through 2020, 176 people were arrested, fewer than 20 people were placed under community supervision, and fewer than 20 were admitted into state correctional institutions 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.