Honorable Briscoe Cain, Chair, House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1772 by Ashby (relating to the documentation required for the purchase of certain timber products; creating a criminal offense.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
The bill would create a misdemeanor offense for knowingly failing to provide certain documentation related to the purchase of certain timber as required by the bill's provisions or knowingly providing false information in such required documentation. The bill would increase the offense of knowingly providing false information in the required documentation to a range of felony levels depending on the value of the timber purchased.
Creating a criminal 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 two individuals arrested and one individual placed on community supervision for the felony offenses of unauthorized harvesting of timber or defrauding the beneficiaries of timber sales. It is assumed that any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.