TO:	Honorable John Whitmire, Chair, Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB1727 by Schwertner (Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the functions of the office of independent ombudsman for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.), As Introduced

The bill would remove the authority of a juvenile court to certify an individual as an adult and transfer the individual to adult court for an offense punishable as a state jail felony if the individual was at least 15 years of age and not yet 17 years of age at the time of the alleged offense.

The bill would increase penalties for offenses committed during an individual's commitment to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD). The bill would remove the option for judge-ordered or jury-recommended adult community supervision for an offense punishable as a felony committed while the individual was at least 17 years of age and committed to a secure facility operated by TJJD. The bill would add delinquent conduct that constitutes a felony of the first, second, or third degree committed while the individual was committed to TJJD to the offenses eligible for a determinate sentence in juvenile judicial proceedings. The bill would require TJJD to refer an individual in its custody to juvenile court for transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for certain felony offenses if the individual is at least 16 years of age and not yet 19 years of age, was at least 16 years of age at the time the offense occurred, is serving a determinate sentence, and has not yet completed the sentence.

In fiscal year 2022, there were eight individuals certified as adults and transferred from juvenile court to adult court for an offense punishable as a state jail felony. There were also nine individuals placed on adult community supervision and one individual admitted to an adult state correctional institution as a result of such a transfer.

It is unknown how many offenses were committed in fiscal year 2022 during an individual's commitment to TJJD.

While it is assumed that any impact on adult state correctional populations or on the demand for adult state correctional resources would not be significant, the impact on juvenile state correctional populations or on the demand for juvenile state correctional resources cannot be determined due to the lack of data necessary to identify the prevalence of conduct that would qualify for an increased penalty under the bill.