HB 5466 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH ELECTIONS-RELATED CRIMES MAY BE PROSECUTED.

Substitute House ofBill Representatives General Assembly File No.

5395466 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2024 Substitute House Bill No.

546624-135 HouseAN ofACT Representatives,CONCERNING AprilTHE 17,PERIOD 2024OF TheTIME CommitteeDURING onWHICH JudiciaryELECTIONS-RELATED reportedCRIMES throughMAY REP.BE PROSECUTED.

STAFSTROM of the 129th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH ELECTIONS-RELATED CRIMES MAY BE PROSECUTED.

or (2) begins on the sHB5466date /of Filesuch No.referral and ends six months following the date of such referral, whichever period of time ends later.

539Approved 1June sHB54665, File2024 No.

539 date of such referral and ends six months following the date of such referral, whichever period of time ends later.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2024, and New section applicable to any offense committed on or after October 1, 2024, and to any offense committed prior to October 1, 2024, for which the statute of limitations in effect at the time of the commission of the offense had not yet expired as of October 1, 2024, or to any offense for which a complaint, statement or evidence concerning such offense is referred by the State Elections Enforcement Commission to the Chief State's Attorney on or after April 1, 2024 JUD Joint Favorable Subst.

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539 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $ Judicial Dept.

(Probation);

GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Correction, Dept.

Cost Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Criminal Justice, Div.

GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Cost Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which extends the statute of limitation in certain situations for elections related crimes, results in a minimal potential cost to the Judicial Department and the Department of Correction and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines.

On average, the marginal cost to the state for incarcerating an offender for the year is $3,300 while the average marginal cost for supervision in the community is less than $800 each year for adults and $1,000 each year for juveniles.

Few violations are anticipated to occur in the future.

1Inmate marginal cost is based on increased consumables (e.g., food, clothing, water, sewage, living supplies, etc.) This does not include a change in staffing costs or utility expenses because these would only be realized if a unit or facility opened.

2Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only includes costs that increase with each additional participant.

This does not include a cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation officers.

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539 The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the actual number of violations.

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539 OLR Bill Analysis sHB 5466 AN ACT CONCERNING THE PERIOD OF TIME DURING WHICH ELECTIONS-RELATED CRIMES MAY BE PROSECUTED.

SUMMARY By law, the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) receives complaints from the secretary of the state, registrars of voters, town clerks, and individuals under oath about alleged election law violations.

The commission investigates and holds hearings as it deems appropriate and may refer to the chief state’s attorney any evidence of a violation for possible prosecution.

This bill, in certain circumstances, extends the time period during which an alleged election law violation referred from SEEC may be prosecuted.

Specifically, it allows prosecution during the (1) existing statute of limitations period or (2) six months from when SEEC referred the complaint to the chief state’s attorney, whichever period ends later.

The statute of limitations varies based on the offense committed.

With certain exceptions, prosecutors may begin a prosecution within (1) five years after the crime was committed for felonies and (2) one year after the crime was committed for misdemeanors (CGS § 54-193).