Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1533 by Lozano (Relating to the prosecution of organized criminal activity involving a controlled substance or dangerous drug.), As Introduced
The bill would expand the conduct constituting the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity to include unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug with the intent to deliver.
Expanding the conduct constituting and modifying 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 9,875 individuals arrested, 1,926 individuals placed on adult community supervision, 119 individuals placed on juvenile probation supervision, 2,825 individuals admitted to an adult state correctional institution, and 1 individual admitted to a juvenile state correctional institution for manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to deliver a controlled substance in violation of the Texas Controlled Substances Act or a dangerous drug in violation of the Texas Dangerous Drug Act. It is unknown how many of these offenses involved either possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance or dangerous drug or engagement with organized criminal activity.
The impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to the lack of data to identify the number of additional cases that would qualify as an offense of engaging in organized criminal activity under the provisions of the bill.