LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6223 NOTE PREPARED: Dec 1, 2023
BILL NUMBER: HB 1049 BILL AMENDED:
SUBJECT: Crimes Involving Fraud.
FIRST AUTHOR: Rep. Zimmerman BILL STATUS: As Introduced
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED:XGENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
XDEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: This bill increases the penalty for fraud to a Level 4 felony if the pecuniary loss
is at least $100,000 or if the pecuniary loss is at least $50,000 and the victim is an endangered adult or less
than 18 years of age.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024.
Explanation of State Expenditures: Any increase to the DOC offender population should be minor. (See
Additional Information for details.)
This bill increases the criminal penalty from a Level 5 offense to a Level 4. State expenditures will increase
if an offender is subject to a longer sentence, as shown in the following table. [Note: While the maximum
pecuniary loss is $100,000 under current law, the common practice is for the prosecuting attorneys to charge
a Level 5 felony if the pecuniary loss exceeds $100,000.]
Sentences of Incarceration for Level 4 and 5 Felonies
Minimum Advisory Maximum
Current Law Level 5 Felony 1 year 3 years 6 years
Proposed Level 4 Felony 2 years 6 years 12 years
The entire sentence for Level 4 and Level 5 felonies may be suspended and the person placed on either
probation or community corrections. If no time is suspended, the offender can receive good-time credit of
25% and educational credit time and, after adjusting for credit time, released from prison and placed on
HB 1049 1 parole.
Longer sentences will increase the Department of Correction (DOC) population which will increase costs
to DOC. The average expenditure to house an adult offender was $28,110 annually, or $76.96 daily, in FY
2023. (This does not include the cost of new construction.) If offenders can be housed in existing facilities
with no additional staff, the marginal cost for medical care, food, and clothing is approximately $4,456
annually, or $12.21 daily, per prisoner. The marginal cost estimates are based on contractual agreements with
food and medical vendors and projections based on prior years for clothing and hygiene. The estimated
average cost of housing a juvenile in a state juvenile facility was $112,655 annually, or $308.43 daily, in FY
2023. The marginal cost for juvenile facilities was $6,325 annually or $17.33 daily.
Additional Information – The following table shows the number of convictions for Level 5 fraud for FY 2019
through 2023.
Convictions for Fraud as a Level 5 Felony
FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023
Convictions 4 1 5 10 55
Commitments to DOC 1 1 0 2 20
% Committed to DOC 25% 100% 0% 20% 36%
Even if 15% of these cases had a pecuniary loss greater than $100,000, the added DOC population would
likely be less than 20 offenders resulting in an additional cost of $85,000 based on the FY 2023 marginal cost
of $4,456 per year.
Explanation of State Revenues: There would be no change in state revenue because criminal fines and
court fees are the same for all felonies.
Explanation of Local Expenditures:
Explanation of Local Revenues: There would be no change in revenues because court fees are the same
for all felonies.
State Agencies Affected: Department of Correction.
Local Agencies Affected: Trial courts, local law enforcement agencies.
Information Sources: Department of Correction; Abstracts of Judgment, Indiana Supreme Court
Fiscal Analyst: Mark Goodpaster, 317-232-9852.
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