This Fiscal Note is not an official copy and should not be quoted or cited.
Fiscal Note - SB 0515 - Creates procedure for civil commitment of sexually violent offenders
SB 515 - Fiscal Note

COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

OVERSIGHT DIVISION

FISCAL NOTE

L.R. NO. 2296-05

BILL NO. Perfected SCS for SBs 515 and 783

SUBJECT: Mental Health Dept.; Corrections Dept.; Civil Procedure; Crimes and Punishments; Attorney General, State

TYPE: Original

DATE: April 9, 1998


FISCAL SUMMARY

ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON STATE FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
General Revenue ($4,397,157) ($3,315,342) ($7,244,845)
Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

State Funds

($4,397,157) ($3,315,342) ($7,244,845)



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
None
Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

Federal Funds

$0 $0 $0



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
Local Government (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown)

Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses

This fiscal note contains 8 pages.

FISCAL ANALYSIS

ASSUMPTION

Officials of the Department of Health assume this proposal would have no fiscal impact to their agency.

Officials from the Office of Attorney General assume they would request one additional Assistant Attorney General ($30,000) to implement this proposal.

Officials from the Office of State Courts Administrator (CTS) indicated that each new case will involve a considerable of court time. However, the CTS did not believe the total number of cases would result in a significant impact on the workload of the courts.

Officials from the Office of State Public Defender (SPD) assume this proposal will fiscally impact the SPD. The SPD assumes that an average of 121 Probable Cause hearings will be held each year for the next three years. The CTS further assumes an average of 100 additional trials will be held each year and an average of 121 annual hearings will take place each year. The SPD calculates that this additional caseload will require 2 additional attorneys and .75 FTE for a paralegal and .5 FTE for a legal secretary at a total cost of $135,346 for FY 99. Future costs would total $140,329 and $143,932 for FY 00 and FY 01, respectively. All costs were allocated to the General Revenue Fund, based on prior funding sources.

SPD officials further assumed portions of the proposal would allow for the defendant's independent evaluation (other than Mental Health). SPD officials assumed that Department of Mental Health would be responsible for paying for those costs. If this proposal intends for SPD to be responsible for the cost for the defendant's independent evaluation, SPD officials estimate the cost at $2,500 per evaluation. This would add $625,000 to SPD's cost projections ($2,500 x 250 defendants = $625,000).

Oversight assumes the costs for independent psychiatric evaluations would be paid for by the State Public Defender in the course of representing their clients.

Officials of the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume this proposal would result in the civil confinement within a secure institutional setting of persons who have been determined to be at risk of performing sexually predatory acts. This would increase the population growth predicted by the DOC for institutional confinements.

The DOC assumes that for each person confined under this proposal, an additional maximum security bed would need to be constructed at the cost of $48,500. Using current construction time lines, DOC officials assume that a bed would take at least two years to construct. These cost projections assume double bunking of occupants. Total FY99 construction cost would be



ASSUMPTION (continued)

$2,425,000.

DOC officials assume their department would house persons committed under this proposal in 50-bed units. Based on current annual failures of those required to participate in the Missouri Sexual Offender Program (MOSOP) whose offenses are referenced in this proposal, the DOC predicts that an additional 25 persons per year would be confined. In addition to persons presently incarcerated who could be civilly committed, persons found to be not guilty by reason of insanity of a sexually violent offense and persons charged with a sexually violent offense and found incompetent to stand trial could be confined under this proposal. The DOC has no reliable means to predict the additional impact of such persons on confinement resources.

DOC officials assumed in this response that the Missouri Department of Mental Health, through an interagency agreement, would provide for the care and treatment of all persons confined under this proposal. This would include daily food, clothing, health care, and needed treatment.

DOC officials also assumed that their department would only be responsible for the capital construction, ongoing utilities, maintenance, and perimeter security of the housing unit for these persons. Providing 24 hour per day custody supervision of the unit's perimeter would require

5.27 Correctional Officer I's and 40 hour per week supervision of the Officers equal to 1.34 Correctional Officer II's. Services for 1.00 Maintenance Worker I would also be requested. FY99 salary and expense and equipment costs would be $183,655 per 50-bed unit. The annual utilities/maintenance cost for the unit would be equal to $425.00 per person or $21,250 per unit.

Oversight assumes for purposes of this fiscal note that commitment of sexual predators should result in savings to the Board of Probation and Parole (Board). Supervision by the Board is an average per diem of $2.47 per offender, per day. Assuming 25 sexually violent predator offenders would be confined as a result of this proposal annually, Oversight estimated the savings to the Board at $18,775 in FY99, $46,881 in FY2000 and $73,134 in FY2001.

Officials of the Department of Mental Health (DMH) based their assumptions on data which is available from the states of Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a state population similar to Missouri (around 5 million). The Wisconsin Sex Predator law was enacted on June 2, 1994. Wisconsin now has 110 individuals committed as sexual predators. Minnesota, with a state population less than Missouri (4.4 million) has had around 25 sexual predators committed each year for the last two years. Arizona, with a state population less than Missouri (3.7 million), has had 12 commitments in the 4 months since the first commitment was received in September 1997.





ASSUMPTION (continued)

DMH officials assume data from DOC indicates there are currently around 2,405 individuals incarcerated for sexually violent offenses. An average of 189 DOC inmates convicted of sexually violent offenses would be ready for the Missouri Sexual Offender Program (MOSOP) in each of the next five years. Using current DOC predictions, 75 inmates convicted of sexually violent offenses will fail MOSOP in each of the next 5 years. DMH officials assumed that most of the 75 would be referred to DMH for evaluation as to sexual predator status. Of these 75, it is not known how many would ultimately be adjudicated as Sexual Predators and committed to the custody of the DMH. However, DMH officials assume that 20 - 30 persons per year would be adjudicated as Sexual Predators.

DMH officials assume 25 sexual predators would be committed per year to the custody of the DMH which would be consistent with the experience of the states of Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and with projections using Missouri DOC data. Treatment would be provided at a level consistent with the treatment provided by the DMH for other individuals who are civilly committed. DMH officials stated that expense/equipment costs were based on historical budget requests with similar needs.

To implement this proposal DMH officials assume they would request the following 47.40 FTEs for FY99: .40 Board Sr. Psychiatrist ($130,322); one (1) Psychologist III ($52,572); two (2) Psychologist I's ($37,284); three (3) RN III for day shift ($34,296); three (3) RN III's for shift differential ($37,284); one (1) Social Work Practitioner II ($29,172); twenty (20) Security Aide I's ($19,908); three (3) Security Aide II's ($21,408); one (1) Substance Abuse Counselor III ($26,928); one (1) Recreational Therapist I ($23,052); two (2) Activity Aide II's ($18,024); one (1) Psychometrist ($19,908); one (1) Clerk Typist ($16,776); one (1) Account Clerk I ($15,648); one (1) Auto Driver ($16,776); one (1) Custodial Worker ($14,160); four (4) Food Service Help I ($14,160); and one (1) Food Service Help II ($15,648).

In FY's 2000 & 2001 DMH officials assume they would request the following 40.40 new FTEs in each of those years: .40 Board Sr. Psychiatrist ($130,322); one (1) Psychologist III ($52,572); two (2) Psychologist I's ($37,284); three (3) RN III for day shift ($34,296); three (3) RN III's for shift differential ($37,284); one (1) Social Work Practitioner II ($29,172); twenty (20) Security Aide I's ($19,908); three (3) Security Aide II's ($21,408); one (1) Substance Abuse Counselor III ($26,928); one (1) Recreational Therapist I ($23,052); two (2) Activity Aide II's ($18,024); one

(1) Psychometrist ($19,908); one (1) Clerk Typist ($16,776); one (1) Account Clerk I ($15,648); one (1) Auto Driver ($16,776); one (1) Custodial Worker ($14,160); four (4) Food Service Help I ($14,160); and one (1) Food Service Help II ($15,648).

ASSUMPTION (continued)

In calculating staffing per ward and expense and equipment costs (one-time and ongoing), DMH officials assumed that DOC would provide the building, all physical plant costs and all costs related to external security, with DMH funding treatment staff and direct costs related to client care.

Total costs estimated by DMH would be $1,581,783 in FY99, $3,222,543 in FY2000 and $4,785,545 in FY2001.

Oversight spoke with officials from the State of Kansas who have a program in place similar to this proposal. Actual treatment cost in FY97 for their civil commitment program was $546,435 for 14 sexual offenders. This would calculate to a per diem of $106.94 per offender. Kansas officials estimate that they will civilly commit an additional two offenders per month, or 24 annually.

In a similar proposal from a previous legislative session, using the FY96 budget request by DMH for Fulton State Hospital, Oversight estimated DMH's per diem costs to be $102.72 per day. Oversight applied a 4% inflation rate per year to estimate per diem of $115.55 for FY99, $120.17 for FY2000 and $124.97 for FY 2001. Using those projected per diem, Oversight estimated the annual cost to DMH for the treatment would be $878,280 in FY99, $2,193,064 in FY2000 and $3,421,179 in FY2001. Oversight has shown one-time equipment costs in addition to the per diem estimates. Oversight also assumed that even though the population of civilly committed offenders would be kept separate from the population of DOC inmates, some of the services which are provided by DOC could be utilized (i.e. food service, infirmary, etc.).

In response to a similar proposal officials of the Office of Prosecution Services (OPS) assumed the proposal would require prosecutors represent the state in civil commitment proceedings for sexually violent offenders. OPS officials stated that is unknown how many of these proceedings there would be in any given year, but assumes that there could be some increased costs to prosecutors as a whole. However, OPS officials would not expect any one prosecutor's office to experience a large number of these cases and therefore the fiscal impact to any one office should be minimal.

Officials of the OPS spoke with the Cole County Prosecutor's office. The Cole County Prosecutor indicated that fiscal impact to any one prosecutor's office should be minimal and could be handled with existing staff.

Officials of the Greene County Prosecutor's office assumed that costs to their office would be unknown. The costs would be dependent on the number of cases, the amount of expert testimony needed, and the number of jury trials requested as a result of this proposal.





ASSUMPTION (continued)

Oversight assumes that prosecutors as a whole could experience increased costs as a result of this proposal; however, the cases would be spread throughout the state. Oversight assumes these hearings would become part of the regular duties of prosecuting attorneys and any increased costs would be addressed through their city or county budget processes.



FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
(10 Mo.)
GENERAL REVENUE FUND
Savings-Department of Corrections (DOC)
Reduced Probation and Parole supervision $18,775 $46,881 $73,134
Cost-Department of Corrections (DOC)
Personal Service (7.61, 7.61, 15.22 FTE) ($142,482) ($175,322) ($359,410)
Fringe Benefits (39,938) (49,143) (100,743)
Expense and Equipment (28,685) (31,952) (68,666)
Capital Improvement (2,425,000) 0 (2,425,000)
Total Cost - DOC ($2,636,105) ($256,417) ($2,953,819)
Costs-State Public Defender
Personal Service (3.25 FTE) ($77,371) ($95,205) ($97,585)
Fringe Benefits (21,687) (26,686) (27,353)
Expense and Equipment (29,205) (9,714) (10,005)
Contract expenses (520,625) (643,750) (663,062)
Total Costs-State Public Defender ($648,888) ($775,355) ($798,005)
Cost-Department of Mental Health (DMH)
per diem costs ($878,280) ($2,193,064) ($3,421,179)
one-time equipment and expenses (202,083) (85,606) (91,839)
Total Cost-DMH ($1,080,363) ($2,278,670) ($3,513,018)
FISCAL IMPACT - State Government FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
(continued) (10 Mo.)
GENERAL REVENUE FUND (continued)
Costs-Office of the Attorney General (AGO)
Personal Service (1 FTE) ($25,000) ($30,750) ($31,519)
Fringe Benefits (7,008) (8,619) (8,835)
Expense and Equipment (18,667) (12,412) (12,784)
Total Cost-AGO ($50,576) ($51,781) ($53,137)

ESTIMATED NET EFFECT TO

GENERAL REVENUE FUND ($4,397,157) ($3,315,342) ($7,244,845)
FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001
(10 Mo.)
Costs - Cities & Counties
Sexually violent predator commitment cases (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown)



FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business

No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal.



DESCRIPTION

This proposal would allow the civil commitment of sexual predators under circumstances outlined in this proposal. This proposal would commit sexually violent predators to the custody of the Department of Mental Health for the control, care and treatment until the person's mental abnormality or personality disorder has been corrected to the point that the person is safe to live among the populace. The procedures to be followed for civil commitment of sexual predators are outlined in this proposal.

This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would require additional capital improvements or rental space.





SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Department of Social Services

Department of Health

Department of Mental Health

Department of Corrections

Office of Attorney General

Office of Prosecution Services

State Public Defender

Office of State Courts Administrator

Department of Public Safety



Jeanne Jarrett, CPA

Director

April 9, 1998