COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
OVERSIGHT DIVISION
FISCAL NOTE
L.R. No.: 4417-01
Bill No.: SB 1228
Subject: Crimes and Punishment; Highway Patrol; Victims of Crime.
Type: Original
Date: March 1, 2004
FISCAL SUMMARY
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| General Revenue | (Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) |
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on General Revenue Fund |
(Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) |
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on Other State Funds |
$0 | $0 | $0 |
Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses.
This fiscal note contains 5 pages.
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on All Federal Funds |
$0 | $0 | $0 |
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2005 | FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| Local Government | $0 | $0 |
$0 |
ASSUMPTION
Officials from the Office of Prosecution Services assume this proposal would not result in additional costs to prosecutors.
Officials from the Office of the State Courts Administrator assume this proposal would not result in additional costs to the courts.
Officials from the Office of the State Public Defender (SPD) state this proposed legislation requires the Highway Patrol to create a sexual offender registry website. New crimes create new cases for the SPD. The exact number of cases affected is too uncertain to provide a definitive dollar amount of fiscal impact. Nevertheless, there will be some impact.
Since the amount of impact is so uncertain, the SPD cannot assume existing staff will be able to provide representation in these cases. However, once the true impact is determined, the SPD will reassess the impact of this legislation. Passage of more than one bill increasing existing penalties, or creating new crimes, will require increased appropriations for the SPD.
ASSUMPTION (continued)
Officials from the Department of Public Safety - Missouri Highway Patrol (MHP) assume that there will be no costs associated with this bill because the MHP currently has a decision item submitted for the FY 2005 budget to provide the necessary funding to establish the sex offender website. The request is based on legislation that was passed in SB 184 during last year's legislative session. If the decision item is not approved, the costs to implement SB 1228 would be approximately $191,521 (one-time) and $55,318 recurring.
Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) state the proposal increases the punishment for failure to requester if an offender was convicted of a section 566 unclassified, A or B felony involving a child less than 14 years of age. If that is the case, it is not an A misdemeanor but a D felony. If it is a subsequent offense it becomes a C rather than a D felony.
DOC states that last year, four cases were received by the Division of Adult Institutions for a registration subsequent offense. The average D felony serves 9.3 months and the average C felony serves 13.1 months, or an additional 3.8 months, or 166 days. At an average of $38.10 per day, this is $6,308 per offender. If all 4 of the offenders met the criteria, the cost would be $25,323 a year and begin impacting DOC 9.3 months into the first year.
DOC states that last year, there were five misdemeanor cases for failure to register. If three of the five were revoked and sent to the Division of Adult Institutions on a D felony, they would serve 9.3 months, or 284 days. This would be an additional cost because DOC does not incarcerate A misdemeanors that violate there supervision. At $38.10 per day, this adds to $10,820. The three offenders would cost $32,460.
DOC states the total estimated cost for this bill would be $57,783 ($25,323 + $32,460) per year.
Based upon DOC's response to this bill as well as their response to other legislation that would result in additional costs, Oversight will assume the DOC will incur an unknown amount of expenses under $100,000 annually as a result of this proposal.
Oversight assumes this proposal will not add additional expenses to the MHP, other than what is currently in the budget request for FY 2005.
| FISCAL IMPACT - State Government | FY 2005
(10 Mo.) |
FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| GENERAL REVENUE FUND | |||
| Costs - Department of Corrections | |||
| Incarceration/probation costs | (Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) | (Less than $100,000) |
| ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUND |
(Less than $100,000) |
(Less than $100,000) |
(Less than $100,000) |
| FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government | FY 2005
(10 Mo.) |
FY 2006 | FY 2007 |
| $0 | $0 | $0 |
FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business
No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal.
DESCRIPTION
This proposal requires the Highway Patrol to maintain a website with the names, addresses, and offenses of individuals required to be on the sexual offender registry. The state will not be civilly or criminally liable for the erroneous placement of an individual's name or address on the website unless there is evidence that the action was performed maliciously.
The proposal also makes it a Class D felony for an individual who committed a sexual offense that is an unclassified felony, Class A felony, Class B felony, or a felony involving a child under the age of fourteen, to fail to register as a sexual offender. A second or subsequent offense by such individuals is a Class C felony. Currently, any individual who is required to register as a sexual offense and fails to do so, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
This legislation is not federally mandated, would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Department of Public Safety
Missouri Highway Patrol
Office of the State Courts Administrator
Office of Prosecution Services
Office of the State Public Defender
Department of Corrections
Mickey Wilson, CPA
Director
March 1, 2004