FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Dan Sutherland, Legislative Director for Rep. Vicki Truitt

(512) 463-0690 or dan.sutherland@house.state.tx.us 

Car Burglary Bill Passes House

 March 29, 2005 (AUSTIN, TX) -- Today, House Bill 151, increasing the penalty for car burglary from a Class A misdemeanor to a state jail felony, passed a critical House floor vote on second reading. Authored by State Representative Vicki Truitt (R-Keller), HB 151 passed easily, with broad, bi-partisan support having 96 votes for and 43 votes against.   

"Today's vote was the biggest hurdle yet for this bill, and there is  little doubt it will be approved on third reading and sent to the Senate later this week," said Truitt.  Truitt had a similar bill in 2003, but additional funds for increased incarceration of convicts were unavailable due to the $10 billion budget shortfall the state faced at that time.   

Although many crimes have decreased over the past few years, car burglaries have been on a constant and dramatic increase.  Dollar losses state-wide from car burglaries have grown 123% in the past 10 years, according to the Department of Public Safety's Uniform Crime Report statistics.  These same reports also show that, prior to 1995, when car burglaries were still felony offenses in Texas, the frequency of this crime was on the decline.  Car burglaries started to increase after the penalty for the crime was reduced by the legislature in 1993, in a move to cut costs and prison over crowding.  By 2003, Texans lost over $204 million to car burglaries. 

"A state jail penalty for this crime makes perfect sense," Truitt said.  "How can we expect criminals to take our law enforcement seriously when they know they won't get anything but a slap on the hand for causing thousands of dollars of damage to someone's car?  The crime statistics prove this deterrent works, is necessary and overdue."   

State jail felonies are punishable by confinement in a state jail for a period of at least 180 days and up to 2 years, and a fine not to exceed $10,000, while Class A misdemeanors are punishable by a fine of up to $4,000 or confinement in jail for a term up to 365 days.   Most misdemeanor convictions usually result in very little, if any,  jail time, however.