LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT STATEMENT
 
81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 13, 2009

TO:
Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB1633 by Walle ( Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of graffiti and to certain conditions imposed on defendants convicted of that offense or on juveniles adjudicated as having engaged in conduct in violation of that offense.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

The bill would amend the Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Family Code as they relate to the criminal penalties and civil consequences of damaging property with graffiti. The provisions of the bill that are the subject of this analysis are those providing for penalty enhancement.  Under the provisions of the bill an individual previously convicted two or more times of graffiti that also caused a pecuniary loss of any amount less than $20,000 would be punished as a state jail felon.  Under current statute, graffiti is punishable at all levels and is based on the amount of pecuniary loss.

In fiscal year 2008, approximately 174 persons were placed on community supervision (42 felony and 132 misdemeanor), approximately 29 persons were admitted to state jail, and one person was admitted to prison for the offense of graffiti.  Based on arrest history data, direct court sentencing trends, and revocation rates, approximately 14 percent of the individuals would be sentenced to a term of incarceration in a state jail and approximately 21 percent of the individuals would be placed under felony community supervision annually as a result of the provision providing penalty enhancement for previous graffiti convictions.

Assuming sentencing patterns and release policies not addressed in this bill remain constant, the probable impact of implementing the provisions of the bill during each of the first five years following passage, in terms of daily demand upon the adult corrections agencies, is estimated as follows:




Fiscal Year Increase in Demand for Felony Community Supervision Increase in Demand for State Jail Capacity
2010 26 18
2011 26 16
2012 24 14
2013 22 12
2014 22 11


Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JOB, GG, LM