Honorable Harold V. Dutton, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB458 by Craddick (Relating to the period within which the Texas Juvenile Justice Department must accept custody of a person committed to the department.), As Introduced
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined due to the unknown number of youth to be committed to TJJD and the agency's capacity to take custody of youth pending admission.
The bill would require the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) to accept custody of a youth committed to TJJD no later than 30 days after the disposition order.
TJJD indicates that it will not be able to absorb the youth pending TJJD admission in local facilities before the bill's effective date and would be required to prioritize new commitments to TJJD. The ability to admit these youth would be dependent on the number of youth committed to TJJD and state secure facility capacity and staffing levels. Based on data reported by TJJD, a daily average of approximately 123 youth were pending admission to TJJD between September 2022 and February 2023. During that period, 233 youth were committed to TJJD and placed in a local facility pending admission, and 247 youth were admitted to TJJD custody after being placed in a local facility pending admission. The average wait time for youth admitted during this period was 94 days.
Based on the February 2023 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Uniform Cost Report, the state uniform costs per day for a youth in a local facility were $22.45 for a pre-adjudication detention facility and $71.03 for a post-adjudication facility.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2023
Local Government Impact
The fiscal implications to local juvenile probation departments would be dependent on TJJD's ability to admit youth into agency custody. Based on the February 2023 Criminal and Juvenile Justice Uniform Cost Report, the local uniform costs per day for a youth in a local facility were $325.38 for a pre-adjudication detention facility and $311.46 for a post-adjudication facility.