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Senate Bill 745 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Otto |
Senate Bill 745 amends the Government Code to clarify the attorney general's duty to administer the Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services Program, to authorize the attorney general to award grants to sexual assault programs, state sexual assault coalitions, and other appropriate local and statewide programs and organizations related to sexual assault, and to revise the attorney general's rulemaking authority with respect to determining eligibility requirements for a grant awarded under the Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services Act and imposing services and reporting requirements on grant recipients. The bill clarifies the entities with or to which the attorney general may consult, contract, and award grants for special projects to prevent sexual assault and improve services to survivors and clarifies that the minimum services provided by a sexual assault program are provided to adult survivors of stranger and non-stranger sexual assault.
Senate Bill 745 clarifies that the biennial report required to be published by the attorney general is a report regarding grants awarded under the act, removes the requirement that the report summarize reports from programs receiving grants from the attorney general, and repeals provisions requiring the attorney general by rule to impose certain requirements on grant recipients and provisions regarding the suspension of grant money in cases of dispute regarding grant eligibility. The bill makes the duties of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services Program regarding developing and distributing sexual assault evidence collection protocol and kits apply instead to the attorney general and authorizes an individual to act as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault if the person has completed a training program certified by the attorney general, rather than by the Department of Public Safety.
Senate Bill 745 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to clarify that the attorney general's authority to award compensation for pecuniary loss arising from certain criminally injurious conduct that occurred before January 1, 1980, with respect to a victim whose identity is established by a law enforcement agency on or after January 1, 2009, is not contingent on the loss being incurred with respect to the victim's funeral or burial.