Honorable John T. Smithee, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2197 by Money (Relating to the protection of an unborn child's rights and criminal liability and justification for prohibited conduct.), As Introduced
Expanding the applicability of criminal offenses 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. The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined due to a lack of data to estimate the additional number of cases which could be prosecuted under the bill's provisions.
The bill would expand the applicability of criminal homicide and assaultive offenses to include unborn victims except in cases when unintentional injury or death result from spontaneous miscarriage or from procedures undertaken to save the life of a pregnant mother accompanied by certain steps to save the life of the unborn child, and would limit the inapplicability of liability for wrongful death of or injury to an unborn child to cases in these same circumstances.
Local Government Impact
While the fiscal impact cannot be determined, expanding the applicability of existing offenses may result in increased demands upon local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or confined locally.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 503 Texas Medical Board