TO:	Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB417 by Paxton (Relating to electronic device filters for certain explicit material; creating a criminal offense; providing a civil penalty.), As Introduced

The bill would make it an offense for a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, to knowingly circumvent, modify, remove, or uninstall certain electronic device filters without permission from the parent or legal guardian which results in a minor user accessing explicit material on the device. The offense would be punishable as a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a state jail felony for a second or subsequent offense.

Creating a new criminal offense may result in an increase in 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.

The impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to a lack of data to estimate the prevalence of conduct outlined in the bill's provisions that would be subject to criminal penalties.