| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to crime victims' compensation. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Articles 56B.003(2), (6), (7), and (10), Code of |
|
|
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(2) "Claimant" means any of the following individuals, |
|
|
other than a service provider, who is entitled to file or has filed |
|
|
a claim for compensation under this chapter: |
|
|
(A) an authorized individual acting on behalf of |
|
|
a victim; |
|
|
(B) an individual who legally assumes the |
|
|
obligation or who voluntarily pays medical or burial expenses of a |
|
|
victim incurred as a result of the criminally injurious conduct of |
|
|
another; |
|
|
(C) a dependent of a victim who died as a result |
|
|
of the criminally injurious conduct; |
|
|
(D) a [an immediate] family member or [a] |
|
|
household member of a victim who, as a result of the criminally |
|
|
injurious conduct: |
|
|
(i) requires psychiatric care or |
|
|
counseling; |
|
|
(ii) incurs expenses for traveling to and |
|
|
attending a deceased victim's funeral; or |
|
|
(iii) suffers wage loss from bereavement |
|
|
leave taken in connection with the death of the victim; or |
|
|
(E) an authorized individual acting on behalf of |
|
|
a child described by Paragraph (C) or (D). |
|
|
(6) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by |
|
|
Section 71.004 [71.004(1)], Family Code. |
|
|
(7) "Household member" means an individual who[: |
|
|
[(A) is related by consanguinity or affinity to |
|
|
the victim; and |
|
|
[(B)] resided in the same permanent household as |
|
|
the victim at the time that the criminally injurious conduct |
|
|
occurred. |
|
|
(10) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of the expense |
|
|
reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury |
|
|
or death for: |
|
|
(A) medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric |
|
|
care or counseling, or physical therapy; |
|
|
(B) actual loss of past earnings and anticipated |
|
|
loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of: |
|
|
(i) a disability resulting from the |
|
|
personal injury; |
|
|
(ii) the receipt of medically indicated |
|
|
services related to the disability; or |
|
|
(iii) participation in or attendance at |
|
|
investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes or any |
|
|
postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to |
|
|
criminally injurious conduct; |
|
|
(C) care of a child or dependent, including |
|
|
specialized care for a child who is a victim; |
|
|
(D) funeral and burial expenses, including, for a |
|
|
[an immediate] family member or [a] household member of the victim, |
|
|
the necessary expenses of traveling to and attending the funeral; |
|
|
(E) loss of support to a dependent, consistent |
|
|
with Article 56B.057(b)(5); |
|
|
(F) reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning |
|
|
the crime scene; |
|
|
(G) reasonable replacement costs for clothing, |
|
|
bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered |
|
|
unusable as a result of the criminal investigation; |
|
|
(H) reasonable and necessary costs for |
|
|
relocation and housing rental assistance payments as provided by |
|
|
Articles [Article] 56B.106(c) and (c-1); |
|
|
(I) for a [an immediate] family member or [a] |
|
|
household member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave [of not |
|
|
more than 10 work days]; and |
|
|
(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling |
|
|
to and from a place of execution to witness the execution, including |
|
|
[one night's] lodging near the place where the execution is |
|
|
conducted. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subdivision (8), Article 56B.003, Code of |
|
|
Criminal Procedure, is redesignated as Subdivision (5-a), Article |
|
|
56B.003, Code of Criminal Procedure, and amended to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(5-a) "Family [(8) "Immediate family] member" means an |
|
|
individual who is related to a victim [within the second degree] by |
|
|
consanguinity or affinity. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Article 56B.057(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, |
|
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(d) Except as provided by rules adopted by the attorney |
|
|
general to prevent the unjust enrichment of an offender, the |
|
|
attorney general may not deny an award otherwise payable to a |
|
|
claimant or victim because the claimant or victim: |
|
|
(1) is a [an immediate] family member of the offender; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(2) resides in the same household as the offender. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Article 56B.106, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections |
|
|
(c-1), (c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) A victim of stalking, family violence, or trafficking of |
|
|
persons, a victim of sexual assault who is assaulted in the victim's |
|
|
place of residence, or a child who is a victim of a murder attempt in |
|
|
the child's place of residence may receive a one-time assistance |
|
|
payment for [in an amount not to exceed]: |
|
|
(1) [$2,000 to be used for] relocation expenses, |
|
|
including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections, |
|
|
expenses relating to moving belongings, motor vehicle mileage |
|
|
expenses, temporary or emergency lodging, and for an out-of-state |
|
|
move, expenses for transportation, lodging, and meals; and |
|
|
(2) [$1,800 to be used for] housing rental expenses. |
|
|
(c-1) Except as provided by Subsection (c-2), a victim other |
|
|
than a victim described by Subsection (c), a dependent of any |
|
|
victim, or a family member or household member of any victim may |
|
|
receive a one-time assistance payment for: |
|
|
(1) relocation expenses, including expenses for |
|
|
rental deposit, utility connections, expenses relating to moving |
|
|
belongings, motor vehicle mileage expenses, temporary or emergency |
|
|
lodging, and for an out-of-state move, expenses for transportation, |
|
|
lodging, and meals; and |
|
|
(2) housing rental expenses. |
|
|
(c-2) The attorney general may not award more than two |
|
|
assistance payments under Subsection (c-1) with respect to the same |
|
|
criminally injurious conduct, regardless of whether the payments |
|
|
are awarded to the victim or other claimants, unless the attorney |
|
|
general determines that it is necessary to award more than two |
|
|
assistance payments because of the extraordinary health or safety |
|
|
needs of the victim or claimants. |
|
|
(c-3) The attorney general by rule may establish a |
|
|
limitation on the amount of an award a victim or claimant may |
|
|
receive under Subsection (c) or (c-1), except that the limitation |
|
|
for: |
|
|
(1) relocation expenses as provided by Subsection |
|
|
(c)(1) or (c-1)(1) may not be less than $2,000; and |
|
|
(2) housing rental expenses as provided by Subsection |
|
|
(c)(2) or (c-1)(2) may not be less than $1,800. |
|
|
(d) The attorney general by rule may establish a limitation |
|
|
on an award a [An immediate] family member or household member of a |
|
|
deceased victim may [not] receive for [more than $1,000 in] lost |
|
|
wages as a result of bereavement leave taken by the family or |
|
|
household member, except that the limit may not be less than the |
|
|
lesser of: |
|
|
(1) $1,000; or |
|
|
(2) an amount equal to 10 days of lost wages. |
|
|
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. Compensation for criminally |
|
|
injurious conduct occurring before the effective date of this Act |
|
|
is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, |
|
|
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
|
|
purposes of this section, criminally injurious conduct occurred |
|
|
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense |
|
|
underlying the conduct occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |