Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB165 by Johnson, Ann (Relating to the prosecution of and punishment for an aggravated assault occurring as part of a mass shooting; increasing a criminal penalty.), As Engrossed
The bill would increase the penalty for aggravated assault from a second degree felony to a first degree felony if the actor commits the assault as part of a mass shooting as defined by the bill. The bill would require that if in a single criminal action the actor is found guilty of more than one such offense, the sentences run consecutively. The bill would exempt offenses that have been consolidated or joined for trial from the right to severance of the offenses.
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 and a possible increase in the length of stay for individuals sentenced to a term of confinement.
While the impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to the lack of data necessary to identify the prevalence of conduct that would constitute an offense under the bill, it is assumed that any impact would not be significant.