COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
OVERSIGHT DIVISION
FISCAL NOTE
L.R. No.: 4685-01
Bill No.: SB 1359
Subject: Courts; Criminal Procedure; Crimes and Punishments; Children and Minors; Victims of Crime
Type: Original
Date: March 12, 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 4 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 Department of Public Safety - Missouri State Highway Patrol assume the proposal would have no fiscal impact on their agency.
Officials from the Office of State Courts Administrator assume the proposed legislation would have no fiscal impact on the courts.
In response to a similar proposal, officials from the Office of Prosecution Services assumed prosecutors could absorb the costs of the proposed legislation within existing resources.
Officials from the Office of State Public Defender (SPD) assume increasing the statute of limitations will give the prosecutor more time in which to file charges. The exact number of cases affected is too uncertain to provide a definitive dollar amount of fiscal impact. Since the amount of impact is uncertain, the SPD cannot assume existing staff will be able to provide representation in these cases. However, once the true fiscal 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)
Oversight assumes the SPD could experience an increase in case load due to the proposed legislation. Oversight assumes the SPD could absorb the cost of the increased case load within existing resources.
Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume they cannot predict the number of new commitments which may result from the time extension for the offense(s) outlined in this proposal. An increase in commitments depends on the utilization by prosecutors and the actual sentences imposed by the court.
If additional persons are sentenced to the custody of the DOC due to the provisions of this legislation, the DOC will incur a corresponding increase in operational cost either through incarceration (FY03 average of $38.10 per inmate per day, or an annual cost of $13,907 per inmate) or through supervision provided by the Board of Probation and Parole (FY03 average of $3.15 per offender per day, or an annual cost of $1,150 per offender).
In summary, supervision by the DOC through probation or incarceration would result in additional unknown costs to the department. Eight (8) persons would have to be incarcerated per fiscal year to exceed $100,000 annually. Due to the narrow scope of this new crime, DOC assumes the impact would be less than $100,000 per year.
| 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
The proposed legislation would lengthen the statute of limitations for most sexual offenses in which the victim is age 18 or younger. Under current law, the statute of limitations is 10 years after the victim reaches age 18. The proposal would lengthen the statute of limitations to 20 years after the victim reaches age 18. The lengthened statute of limitations would apply to all sexual offenses in which the victim is under the age of 18, except for the crimes of rape and sodomy for which there is no statute of limitations.
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
Office of State Courts Administrator
Department of Corrections
Department of Public Safety
- Missouri State Highway Patrol
Office of Prosecution Services
Office of the State Public Defender
Mickey Wilson, CPA
Director
March 12, 2004