The bill would clarify penalty levels for certain felony controlled substance offenses as first degree felonies and clarify the applicability of the penalty enhancement for committing the offense while engaging in organized criminal activity. The bill would increase the penalty for manufacture or delivery of a Penalty Group 1-B controlled substance of less than one gram from a state jail felony to a third degree felony, and if the offense is committed in a drug-free zone, increase the minimum term of confinement by five years and double the maximum fine. The bill would add unlawful possession with intent to deliver a Penalty Group 1-B controlled substance to the list of offenses subject to the penalty enhancement for committing the offense while engaging in organized criminal activity. The bill would reclassify certain controlled substances from Penalty Group 1 into Penalty Group 1-B. The bill would expand the conduct constituting the offenses of homicide, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide to include when an actor manufactures or delivers a Penalty Group 1-B controlled substance and an individual dies as a result of injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or introducing into the individual's body any amount of the controlled substance.
Expanding the conduct constituting or increasing the penalty for an existing offense may result in additional demands upon state and local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement.
In fiscal year 2022, there were 2,545 individuals arrested, 135 individuals placed on adult community supervision, 35 individuals placed on juvenile supervision, and 112 individuals admitted into an adult state correctional institution for any of the offenses which, under the provisions of the bill, would be subject to increased penalties or could be subject to potential penalty enhancements. There were 13 individuals admitted into a juvenile state correctional facility for manufacture, delivery, or possession of a controlled substance or marihuana, but it is unknown if these offenses would meet the criteria for increased penalties under the bill's provisions.
In fiscal year 2022, there were 8,657 individuals arrested, 1,571 individuals placed on adult community supervision, 26 individuals placed on juvenile community supervision, and 2,592 individuals admitted into an adult state correctional institution for manufacture and delivery of a Penalty Group 1 or 1-B controlled substance. In fiscal year 2022, there was one individual admitted into a juvenile state correctional institution for manufacture or delivery of an unspecified controlled substance. It is unknown how many Penalty Group 1 cases would be reclassified as Penalty Group 1-B or if any of these cases resulted in the death of an individual as outlined in the bill's provisions.
The impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to a lack of data to identify cases involving the specific Penalty Group 1 controlled substances which would be reclassified under the bill's provisions or to estimate the prevalence of conduct outlined in the bill's provisions.