The bill would provide for punishment at the next highest category of offense for the felony offenses of smuggling of persons and continuous smuggling of persons and for a minimum 180-day term of confinement for the Class A misdemeanor offense of operation of a stash house if any of the offenses are committed in a disaster or evacuated area.
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 confined and in the length of stay for individuals sentenced to a term of confinement.
In fiscal year 2022, there were 6,618 individuals arrested, 202 individuals placed on adult community supervision, 76 individuals placed on juvenile community supervision, 143 individuals admitted into an adult state correctional institution, and 3 individuals admitted into a juvenile state correctional institution for the offenses of smuggling of persons, continuous smuggling of persons, or operation of a stash house. It is unknown how many of these cases would be subject to an increased penalty as outlined in the bill's provisions.
It is assumed that the impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.