COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

OVERSIGHT DIVISION


FISCAL NOTE


L.R. No.:         3642-01

Bill No.:          HB 1443

Subject:           Crimes and Punishment; Law Enforcement Officers and Agencies

Type:              Original

Date:               March 20, 2008





 

Bill Summary:            The proposal prohibits a person from intentionally smelling or inhaling the fumes of or inducing or aiding another person in the use or sale of specified solvents.



FISCAL SUMMARY


ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON GENERAL REVENUE FUND

FUND AFFECTED

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

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)


ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON OTHER STATE FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Estimated

Net Effect on Other

State Funds

$0

$0

$0


Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses.

This fiscal note contains 6 pages.




ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Estimated

Net Effect on All

Federal Funds

$0

$0

$0



ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FULL TIME EQUIVALENT (FTE)

FUND AFFECTED

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Estimated

Net Effect on

FTE

0

0

0


Estimated Total Net Effect on All funds expected to exceed $100,000 savings or (cost).


Estimated Net Effect on General Revenue Fund expected to exceed $100,000 (cost).


ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDS

FUND AFFECTED

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

Local Government

$0

$0

$0








FISCAL ANALYSIS


ASSUMPTION


Officials from the Department of Public Safety – Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, – Director’s Office, and the – Missouri State Highway Patrol assume the proposal would have no fiscal impact on their agencies.


Officials from the Office of State Courts Administrator assume the proposed legislation would have no fiscal impact on the courts.


Officials from the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume they cannot currently predict the number of new commitments which may result from the creation of 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 (FY07 average of $41.21 per inmate per day, or an annual cost of $15,040 per inmate) or through supervision provided by the Board of Probation and Parole (FY07 average of $2.43 per offender per day, or an annual cost of $887 per offender).

 

At this time, the DOC is unable to determine the number of people who would be convicted under the provisions of this bill and therefore 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 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. Seven (7) persons would have to be incarcerated per fiscal year to exceed $100,000 annually. Due to the narrow scope of this new crime, it is assumed the impact would be less than $100,000 per year for the DOC.




ASSUMPTION (continued)


Officials from the Office of the State Public Defender (SPD) assume increasing penalties on existing crimes, or creating new crimes, will require more SPD resources. While the number of new cases (or cases with increased penalties) may be too few or uncertain to request additional appropriations for this specific bill, the SPD will continue to request sufficient appropriations to provide competent and effective representation in all its cases.


Oversight assumes the Office of the State Public Defender (SPD) could absorb the costs of the proposed legislation within existing resources. Oversight assumes any significant increase in the workload of the SPD would be reflected in future budget requests.


Officials from the Office of Prosecution Services did not respond to Oversight’s request for fiscal impact.



FISCAL IMPACT - State Government

FY 2009

(10 Mo.)

FY 2010

FY 2011

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 2009

(10 Mo.)

FY 2010

FY 2011

 

 

 

 

 

$0

$0

$0





FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business


The proposal could have a direct fiscal impact on small businesses receiving over 50% of their gross annual income from the sale of alcoholic beverages or beer, or small businesses providing live entertainment performances and receiving over 50% of their gross annual income from the sale of recorded video entertainment.



FISCAL DESCRIPTION


The proposed legislation prohibits a person from intentionally smelling or inhaling the fumes of or inducing or aiding another person to induce the symptoms of intoxication, elation, euphoria,

dizziness, excitement, irrational behavior, exhilaration, paralysis, stupefaction, or dulling of the senses or nervous system, distortion of audio, visual, or mental processes by the use of amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, cyclohexyl nitrite, ethyl nitrite, pentyl nitrite, propyl nitrite, and their iso-analogues. A violation of these offenses will be a class B misdemeanor for a

first conviction and a class D felony for subsequent convictions.


The proposal specifies that no person who owns or operates any business which receives over 50% of its gross annual income from the sale of alcoholic beverages or beer, or any business which is a venue for a live entertainment performance and receives over 50% of its gross annual income from the sale of recorded video entertainment, can sell or offer for sale toluol, amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite, cyclohexyl nitrite, ethyl nitrite, pentyl nitrite, propyl nitrite, or their iso-analogues.


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

            – Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control

            – Director’s Office

            – Missouri State Highway Patrol

Office of the State Public Defender




NOT RESPONDING


Office of Prosecution Services





                                                                                                Mickey Wilson, CPA

                                                                                                Director 

                                                                                                March 20, 2008