The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend various codes as they relate to criminal penalties for certain offenses pertaining to communicable diseases. Under the provisions of the bill, a person would no longer commit an offense if they knowingly fail or refuse to obey an order of a health authority published during an area quarantine or transport into the state an object, person, or animal with the intent to harm or defraud another as outlined in existing statute. Under existing statute, these offenses are punishable as third degree felonies.
A third degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term from 2 to 10 years, and, in addition to confinement, can be subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.
Eliminating an offense for which a criminal penalty is applied is expected to result in fewer demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to a decrease in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement within state correctional institutions. From fiscal years 2018 through 2020, fewer than ten people were arrested, placed onto felony direct community supervision, or admitted into a state correctional institution for violating area quarantine rules or transporting a carrier of communicable diseases or contaminated object that is suspected to be a threat to public health 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.