LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT STATEMENT

87TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
May 2, 2021

TO:
Honorable Joan Huffman, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
 
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
SB1741 by Birdwell (Relating to pretrial procedures, conditions for community supervision, and criminal punishment for conduct endangering the public safety; creating a criminal offense and 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 pretrial procedures, conditions of community supervision, and criminal punishment for conduct endangering the public safety.  Under the provisions of the bill, conditions for community supervision would be altered, pretrial procedures would be amended, the criminal offense of unlawful use of fireworks would be created, and criminal penalties would be increased for offenses related to certain behaviors endangering public safety.  The unlawful use of fireworks would be punishable as a state jail felony unless the firework is not a consumer firework, in which case it would be punishable as a second degree felony.  A penalty enhancement increases this offense to a felony of the first degree if it results in serious bodily injury to a law enforcement officer.  The existing offense of riotous behavior would have a penalty enhancement if any of certain offenses were committed in conjunction with the riotous behavior under the provisions of the bill.  Under current statute, punishment for riotous behavior ranges from a Class B misdemeanor to a first degree felony dependent on the 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 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.

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, 100 individuals were arrested for the various degrees of riotous behaviors under current statute (74 for the Class B misdemeanor, 5 for the Class A misdemeanor, 12 for the state jail felony, and 9 for the second degree felony).  From fiscal years 2018 to 2020, fewer than 30 people were placed onto direct community supervision and fewer than 30 people were admitted into a state correctional institution for riotous behaviors 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.  




Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JMc, SLE, LM, MP