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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Boykin

DATE TYPED 01/26/05 HB 420

SHORT TITLE Domestic Abuse as a Serious Violent Offense

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

Indeterminate

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB63

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

State Parole Board (SB63)

Corrections Department (SB63)

Public Defender Department (SB63)

New Mexico Sentencing Commission (SB63)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 420 – Amending the Definition of Serious Violent Offense to Include Acts of Vio-

lence Against Household Members for the Purposes of Determining Earned Meritorious Deduc-

tions for Inmates – amends Section 33-2-34 NMSA 1978, “Eligibility for Earned Meritorious

Deductions” (good time computations), to designate one felony crime (third degree aggravated

battery against a household member) into a serious violent offense. It additionally designates

two felony crimes (fourth degree aggravated assault against a household member, and third de-

gree assault against a household member with intent to commit a violent felony) into serious vio-

lent offenses if the sentencing judge determines that they should be treated as such.

House Bill 420 -- Page 2

Significant Issues

Inmates convicted of serious violent offenses are only eligible to earn up to four days of good

time per month, and therefore generally serve approximately 89 percent of their sentences in

prison. Inmates convicted of crimes other than serious violent offenses can earn up to 30 days of

good time per month, and generally serve only approximately 64 percent of their prison sen-

tences.

This bill potentially impacts the Corrections Department in that, corresponding to the number of

inmates convicted under the three “serious violent offense” designations, it could increase the

number of inmates serving approximately 89 percent of their prison sentences, therein extending

their prison sentences and increasing the department’s incarceration-related costs.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Corrections Department indicates the bill, by potentially increasing the length of prison sen-

tences for a select group of inmates, will negatively impact the department’s ability to operate its

prisons and prison-related programs. The State Parole Board indicates the bill will have little

impact on board operations in that the same number of inmates would be heard by the Board,

although at different points in time.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill does not contain an appropriation; however it will potentially increase the incarceration

costs associated with having to keep this group of inmates in prison for longer periods of time.

Additionally, it could potentially increase the overall state prison population.

The Corrections Department estimates that approximately 75 to 85 inmates per year enter the

prison system subsequent to conviction of one or more of the three designated domestic violence

felonies. The New Mexico Sentencing Commission notes that their report “Time Served in New

Mexico Prisons, FY 2004: Analysis of the Impact of Earned Meritorious Deductions,” sets forth

calculations for the average proportion of time served by inmates in fiscal year 2004. On aver-

age, serious violent offenders served 89.6 percent of their total sentence in fiscal year 2004. On

average, nonviolent offenders served 64.3 percent of their total sentence in fiscal year 2004.

The Corrections Department notes that the contract/private prison annual costs of incarcerating a

male inmate is $20,720 per year, while for females the cost is $26,313 per year. Further, the de-

partment indicates that state owned prisons are essentially at capacity, and that any net increase

in inmate population will be shifted to contract/private facilities. The department additionally

suggests that increased public awareness of domestic violence, as well as judicial sentencing pat-

terns, could well contribute to an increase of felony designations beyond the current level of 75-

85 inmates per year.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Corrections Department believes the bill will cause an increased administrative burden on

the department by increasing the number of days this inmate group remains incarcerated, and by

requiring the same number of staff to supervise the increased number of inmates.

House Bill 420 -- Page 3

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The Public Defender Department notes that the bill makes the good time reductions uniform for

the same offenses regardless of the victim. The public defender additionally suggests that the

variable of increased sentences will make it more difficult to plea bargain cases, “but not to an

impermissible degree.”

BFW/lg