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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Taylor
DATE TYPED 3/9/05
HB
SHORT TITLE Scalping of Professional Tickets
SB 988/aSFl#1
ANALYST Wilson
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
FY05
FY06
$0.1
General Fund
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
Corrections Department (CD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of SFl#1 Amendment
The Senate Floor amendment #1 to Senate Bill 988 reduces the penalty for ticket scalping from a
misdemeanor to a petty misdemeanor. The amendment also states that the offender should be
sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978 which states that a
defendant has been convicted of a crime constituting a petty misdemeanor, the judge shall sen-
tence the person to be imprisoned in the county jail for a definite term not to exceed six months
or to the payment of a fine of not more than $500 hundred or to both such imprisonment and fine
in the discretion of the judge.
Synopsis of Original Bill
Senate Bill 988
expands the definition of the misdemeanor crime of ticket scalping. Under cur-
rent law, the crime only applies to tickets for college athletic events. This bill expands the appli-
cability to include selling tickets to professional athletic events at a price greater than the price
charged at the place of admission or printed on the ticket.
pg_0002
Senate Bill 988/aSFl#1-- Page 2
Significant Issues
The crime of ticket scalping will now be extended to professional athletic events. This will cre-
ate a larger area of ticket sales for law enforcement to monitor.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution, and documenta-
tion of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary would be proportional to
the enforcement of this law and commenced prosecutions. New laws, amendments to existing
laws, and new hearings have the potential to increase caseloads in the courts, thus requiring addi-
tional resources to handle the increase.
The bill could have a minor indirect negative impact upon the CD’s probation program by in-
creasing already high caseloads.
DW/lg:njw