The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to manufacture or delivery of fentanyl and related substances. Under the provisions of the bill, fentanyl or any derivative of fentanyl would be transferred to newly created penalty group complete with criminal penalties for possession, manufacture, or delivery of with some enhanced under certain circumstances, and others no longer be eligible for certain types of community supervision.
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 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.
Increasing the minimum term of confinement is expected to result in additional demands on the correctional resources of the State due to an increase in the length of stay of individuals sentenced to terms of confinement in state correctional institutions. For the offenses of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance in penalty group one, from fiscal years 2018 through 2020, an average of 9,192 people were arrested, 1,561 people were placed onto felony direct community supervision, and 3,427 people were admitted into a state correctional institution.
The bill may have a negative population impact by decreasing the number of people placed onto felony community supervision or increasing the length of stay of those incarcerated within state correctional institutions. Whether the bill would result in a significant population impact is indeterminate due to the lack of information on the number of cases where the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance involved fentanyl or one of its derivatives. This information is necessary to identify the cases that would be affected by the provisions of the bill from all other manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance cases.