Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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STATE FUND |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FUTURE YEARS |
General Revenue Fund (GRF) |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential minimal increase
in incarceration costs |
Potential minimal increase
in incarceration costs |
Potential minimal increase
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Victims of
Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402) |
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Revenues |
Potential negligible gain
in court cost revenues |
Potential negligible gain in court cost revenues |
Potential negligible gain in court cost revenues |
Expenditures |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
Note: The state
fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
For example, FY 2008 is July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008.
·
Incarceration costs. It is possible as a result
of the bill that, annually, a few more adult and juvenile offenders could end
up being sentenced to prison or committed to the state, which would increase,
respectively, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's (DRC) annual
incarceration costs and the Department of Youth Services' (DYS) annual care and
custody costs. The number of additional
adult and juvenile offenders that might actually be sentenced or committed to
the state annually appears likely to be relatively small. Assuming that were true, then any related
increase in DRC's annual incarceration costs and DYS' annual care and custody
costs would be no more than minimal. For the purposes
of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means an estimated cost of no more
than $100,000 for the state per year.
·
Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund. The state may gain some locally collected court cost revenue for the
Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund (Fund 402).
This is because the state court cost imposed on an offender and
deposited to the credit of Fund 402 is slightly higher for a felony than it is
for a misdemeanor: $30 versus $9. The amount of money that Fund 402 may gain
annually, however, is likely to be negligible, as the number of affected
criminal and juvenile cases appears to be relatively small. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis,
"negligible" means an estimated gain of no more than $1,000 for the
state per year.
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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Counties |
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Revenues |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential gain in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
|
Expenditures |
Potential increase in
criminal and/or juvenile justice system operating costs, likely to be no more
than minimal |
Potential increase in
criminal and/or juvenile justice system operating costs, likely to be no more
than minimal |
Potential increase in criminal and/or juvenile
justice system operating costs, likely to be no
more than minimal |
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Municipalities |
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Revenues |
Potential loss in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential loss in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential loss in court
costs and fines, likely to be no more than minimal |
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Expenditures |
Potential decrease in
criminal justice system operating costs, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential decrease in
criminal justice system operating costs, likely to be no more than minimal |
Potential decrease in criminal justice system
operating costs, likely to be no more than minimal |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
Local expenditures generally. The effect of the bill on local governments will be to: (1) shift certain misdemeanor assault and
menacing cases from a municipal court or a county court to a court of common
pleas as felony assault and menacing cases, and (2) raise the possibility of
more serious sanctions being imposed on juvenile offenders. As a result of the former effect, municipalities may
shed some of their annual criminal justice system expenditures related to
investigating, adjudicating, prosecuting, defending (if indigent), and
sanctioning offenders who assault or menace other persons in a courthouse. Conversely, counties could experience an increase in their annual
criminal justice system expenditures, as felonies are typically more
time-consuming and expensive to resolve and the local sanctioning costs can be
higher as well. Annual costs to county
juvenile justice systems to resolve certain assault and menacing cases and appropriately
sanction the offending juvenile may rise as well. Given the number of criminal
and juvenile cases that will be affected by the bill's penalty enhancements
appear to be relatively small, any potential decrease in annual municipal
criminal justice system expenditures and any potential increase in annual
county criminal and juvenile justice system expenditures would likely be no more
than minimal. For
the purposes of this fiscal analysis, "minimal" means a change in
expenditures estimated at no more than $5,000 for any affected municipality or
county per year.
·
Local court cost and fine revenues generally. As the penalty enhancements would shift certain assault and
menacing cases involving adult offenders out of a county court or a municipal
court (which handle misdemeanors) and into a court of common pleas (which
handle felonies), this creates a potential loss of court cost and fine revenue
for municipalities. Conversely, it
creates the possibility that counties may gain court cost and fine
revenue. It is also possible that
juvenile offenders may be fined higher amounts than would otherwise have been
the case under current law and sentencing practices. As the number of affected criminal and juvenile cases appears
likely to be relatively small, the amount of annual court cost and fine revenue
that municipalities might lose and counties might gain would be no more than
minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal
analysis, "minimal" means a change in revenue estimated at no more
than $5,000 for any affected municipality or county per year.
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Overview of the bill
Under current law, when an
assault or
aggravated menacing offense is committed in a courthouse it is a misdemeanor of the first
degree. The bill: (1) elevates the offense to a felony of the
fourth or fifth degree depending on the status of the victim, and (2) increases
the penalties for assault and aggravated menacing when the offense is committed
in a courthouse to felonies of the fifth degree.
At this point in time, LSC
fiscal staff has not uncovered any evidence to suggest that the bill's penalty
enhancement provisions will alter, to any significant degree, annual state
incarceration costs or local criminal and juvenile justice system expenditures.
Felony and misdemeanor sentences and fines generally
Table 1 below summarizes the existing sentences and fines, unchanged by the bill, for felony and misdemeanor offenses generally.
Table 1 Existing Sentences and Fines for Felony and
Misdemeanor Offenses Generally
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Offense Level |
Possible Fine |
Possible Term of
Incarceration |
Felony
1st degree |
Up to $20,000 |
Definite
prison term of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 years |
Felony
2nd degree |
Up to $15,000 |
Definite
prison term of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 years |
Felony
3rd degree |
Up to $10,000 |
Definite
prison term of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 years |
Felony
4th degree |
Up to $5,000 |
Definite
prison term of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, or 18 months |
Felony
5th degree |
Up to $2,500 |
Definite
prison term of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 months |
Misdemeanor
1st degree |
Up to $1,000 |
Not
more than 180 days in jail |
Misdemeanor
2nd degree |
Up to $750 |
Not
more than 90 days in jail |
Misdemeanor
3rd degree |
Up to $500 |
Not
more than 60 days in jail |
Misdemeanor
4th degree |
Up to $250 |
Not
more than 30 days in jail |
Minor
misdemeanor |
Up to $150 |
Citation
issued; No arrest; No jail term possible |
Expenditures generally
The bill's penalty enhancement provisions will affect local expenditures on certain criminal and juvenile assault and menacing cases in at least two ways.
First, it will shift criminal cases that would have been handled by a municipal court or a county court as misdemeanor assaults and menacing under existing law to a court of common pleas where they will be handled as felonies and offenders could be subjected to more serious sanctions. As a result, municipalities may shed some of their annual criminal justice system expenditures related to investigating, adjudicating, prosecuting, defending (if indigent), and sanctioning offenders who assault or menace persons in a courthouse. Conversely, counties could experience an increase in their annual criminal justice system expenditures, as felonies are typically more time-consuming and expensive to resolve and the local sanctioning costs can be higher as well.
Second, offenders who are young enough to be processed through the juvenile courts would also face the possibility of more serious penalties and sentencing. As a result, the annual costs to county juvenile justice systems to resolve these assault and menacing cases and appropriately sanction the offending juvenile may rise.
Given the number of criminal and juvenile cases that will be affected by the bill's penalty enhancements appear to be relatively small, any potential decrease in annual municipal criminal justice system expenditures and any potential increase in annual county criminal and juvenile justice system expenditures would likely be no more than minimal. For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, minimal means a change in expenditures estimated at no more than $5,000 per year for any affected local jurisdiction.
It is also possible as a
result of the bill that: (1) additional
adult offenders could be sentenced to prison, which theoretically increases the
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction's (DRC) annual incarceration costs,
and (2) additional juvenile offenders could be committed to the state, which
theoretically increases the Department of Youth Services' (DYS) annual care and
custody costs. It would appear,
however, that very few additional adult and juvenile offenders will be
sentenced to prison or committed to the state annually as a result of the
bill's penalty enhancements and thus any related potential increase in DRC's
annual incarceration costs or DYS' annual care and custody costs would be no
more than minimal. For the purposes of
this fiscal analysis, in the context of state expenditures, minimal means an
annual cost increase estimated at less than $100,000.
Revenues generally
As the penalty enhancements
would shift certain assault and menacing cases involving adult offenders out of
a county court or a municipal court (which handle misdemeanors) and into a
court of common pleas (which handle felonies), this creates a potential loss of
court cost and fine revenue for municipalities. Conversely, it creates the possibility that counties may gain
court cost and fine revenue. It is also
possible that juvenile offenders may be fined higher amounts than would
otherwise have been the case under current law and sentencing practices. As the number of affected criminal and
juvenile cases appears likely to be relatively small, the amount of annual court
cost and fine revenue that municipalities might lose and counties might gain
would be no more than minimal. For the purposes of this
fiscal analysis, "minimal" means a change in revenues estimated at no
more than $5,000 per year for any affected local jurisdiction.
The state may also gain some
locally collected court cost revenue for the Victims of Crime/Reparations Fund
(Fund 402). This is because the state
court cost imposed on an offender and deposited to the credit of Fund 402 is
slightly higher for a felony than it is for a misdemeanor: $30 versus $9. The amount of money that Fund 402 may gain annually, however, is
likely to be negligible, as the number of affected criminal and juvenile cases
appears to be relatively small. For the
purposes of this fiscal analysis, in the context of state revenues, negligible
means an annual gain estimated at less than $1,000.
LSC fiscal staff: Matthew L. Stiffler, Budget Analyst