The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code to include removing or attempting to remove a global positioning monitoring system (GPS) to the list of behaviors subject to prosecution under the offense of violation of certain court orders or conditions of bond in a family violence, sexual assault or abuse, or stalking case. In certain circumstances, this offense is punishable as a third degree felony.

A third-degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for a term of for two to ten years and an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.

Expanding the list of behaviors for which a criminal penalty can be applied is expected to increase correctional supervision and/or incarceration populations and thereby increase demands on county and/or state correctional resources. In fiscal year 2014, 324 people were arrested, 71 were placed under felony community supervision, and 73 were admitted into state correctional facilities for the felony offense of violation of certain court orders or conditions of bond in a family violence, sexual assault or abuse, or stalking case. Data are not available to indicate how often persons under certain court orders or conditions of bond remove or attempt to remove GPS systems. However, this analysis assumes the bill's provisions would not result in a significant impact on state correctional populations, programs, or workloads.