COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
OVERSIGHT DIVISION
FISCAL NOTE
L.R. No.: 2620-01
Bill No.: SB 800
Subject: Crimes and Punishment; Criminal Procedure
Type: Original
Date: January 17, 2002
FISCAL SUMMARY
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2003 | FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| General Revenue | Less than ($100,000) | Less than ($100,000) | Less than ($100,000) |
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on All State Funds |
Less than ($100,000) | Less than ($100,000) | Less than ($100,000) |
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2003 | FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| None | |||
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on All Federal Funds |
$0 | $0 | $0 |
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2003 | FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| Local Government | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses.
This fiscal note contains 4 pages.
ASSUMPTION
Officials from the Office of State Courts Administrator, Office of Prosecution Services, and the Department of Public Safety - State Highway Patrol, assume this proposal would not have a fiscal impact on their respective agencies.
Officials from the Office of State Public Defender assume existing staff could provide representation for those few cases arising where indigent persons were charged with rape or sodomy due to the elimination of the statute of limitations. Last FY, the State Public Defender System provided representation in 182 rape cases and 87 sodomy cases. However, passage of more than one bill increasing penalties on existing crimes or creating new crimes would require the State Public Defender System to request increased appropriations to cover the cumulative cost of representing indigent persons accused in the now more serious cases or in the new additional cases.
Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) state that the proposal removes the statute of limitations for prosecuting Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, or Armed Criminal Action. These are unclassified crimes. It is at the discretion of the Prosecutor of a case (upon examination and weighing of the crime facts) how they choose to prosecute these cases and what the defendant will be charged with. Pursuant to existing law, when these crimes are charged as a class A felony, prosecution may be commenced at any time; in other words, the statute of limitations does not apply.
In FY 01 there were 3 admissions to DOC for Forcible Rape, 7 for Forcible Sodomy, and 2 for Armed Criminal Action when the time between the offense and sentence date exceeded 3 years. DOC is unable to estimate the potential for future estimates on admissions (that currently would be less than a Felony A) for Forcible Rape, Forcible Sodomy, and Armed Criminal Action when a statute of limitations does not exist and perhaps the Courts or Prosecutors may have data to indicate this potential number. 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 (FY 01 average of $35.78 per inmate per day, or an annual cost of $13,060 per inmate) or through supervision provided by the Board of Probation and Parole (FY 01 average of $3.34 per offender per day, or an annual cost of $1,219 per offender).
The DOC is unable to determine the number of additional inmate beds that may be required as a consequence of passage of this proposal. Estimated construction cost for one new medium to maximum security inmate bed is $55,000. Utilizing this per-bed cost provides for a conservative ASSUMPTION (continued)
estimate by the DOC, as facility start-up costs are not included and entire facilities and/or housing units would have to be constructed to cover the cost of housing new commitments resulting from the cumulative effect of various new legislation, if adopted as statute.
In summary, supervision by the DOC through probation or incarceration would result in additional unknown costs to the department. Eight (8) additional persons would have to be incarcerated per fiscal year to exceed $100,000 annually. It is assumed the impact would be less than $100,000 per year for the DOC.
| FISCAL IMPACT - State Government | FY 2003
(10 Mo.) |
FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| 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 2003
(10 Mo.) |
FY 2004 | FY 2005 |
| $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 removes the statute of limitations for the crimes of rape, sodomy and armed criminal action, which are currently unclassified felonies subject to a three-year statute of limitation.
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
Office of State Public Defender
Office of Prosecution Services
Department of Corrections
Department of Public Safety
- State Highway Patrol
Mickey Wilson, CPA
Acting Director
January 17, 2002