CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE CAUSING DEATH S.B. 423 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS






Senate Bill 423 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Sponsor: Senator Jud Gilbert, II
Senate Committee: Judiciary

CONTENT
The bill would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to include in the sentencing guidelines delivery of a controlled substance causing death, a felony proposed by House Bill 4673 (S-1). Under the Senate bill, the offense would be a Class A felony against a person, with a statutory maximum sentence of imprisonment for life.


The bill would take effect January 1, 2006, and is tie-barred to House Bill 4673.


MCL 777.16p Legislative Analyst: Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT
Senate Bill 423 (S-1) and House Bill 4673 (S-1) would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on State and local government. There are no data to indicate how many offenders would be convicted of delivery of a controlled substance causing death. The proposed felony would be a Class A offense with a sentencing guidelines minimum sentence range from 21-35 months to 270 months-life. Local units of government incur the cost of incarceration in a local facility, which varies by county. The State incurs the cost of felony probation at an average annual cost of $2,000, as well as the cost of incarceration in a State facility, which for FY 2005-06 will have an average annual cost of approximately $30,000. Depending on the length of sentence, age at incarceration and life expectancy, the total cost of incarceration for each offender convicted and sentenced to prison could total anywhere from $52,500 to $1.5 million.


Date Completed: 9-14-05 Fiscal Analyst: Bethany Wicksall

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb423/0506