By Black H.B. No. 2178
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the amendment of Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter
1-3 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56,
1-6 Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act, is amended by the
1-7 inclusion of subsections (f), (g), and (h) of section 56.54, to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Section 56.54. FUNDS. . . .
1-10 (f) The Office of the Attorney General is authorized to
1-11 accept gifts, grants, and donations to be credited to the
1-12 compensation to victims of crime fund and compensation to victims
1-13 of crime auxiliary fund and shall file annually with the governor
1-14 and the presiding officer of each house of the legislature a
1-15 complete and detailed written report accounting for all gifts,
1-16 grants, and donations received and disbursed, used, or maintained
1-17 by the Office for the Attorney General that are credited to these
1-18 funds.
1-19 (g) Money in the compensation to victims of crime fund or in
1-20 the compensation to victims of crime auxiliary fund may be used
1-21 only as provided by this subchapter and is not available for any
1-22 other purpose.
1-23 (h) Interest accruing from the deposit of money in the
2-1 compensation to victims of crime fund and in the compensation to
2-2 victims of crime auxiliary fund shall be credited to the respective
2-3 funds and may be used only in furtherance of this subchapter.
2-4 SECTION 2. Section 56.57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
2-5 Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act, is amended to
2-6 read as follows:
2-7 Section 56.57. DEPOSIT BY COMPTROLLER; AUDIT.
2-8 (a) The comptroller shall deposit the funds received under
2-9 Section 56.56 of this code and all other moneys credited to the
2-10 fund by any other provision of law in the compensation to victims
2-11 of crime fund.
2-12 (b) Funds collected are subject to audit by the comptroller.
2-13 Funds spent are subject to audit by the state auditor.
2-14 SECTION 3. Subdivision (3) of section 56.32 of the Code of
2-15 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
2-16 Compensation Act, is amended to read as follows:
2-17 (3) "Collateral source" means any of the following sources
2-18 of benefits or advantages for pecuniary loss that a victim has
2-19 received or that is readily available to the victim:
2-20 (A) the offender under an order or restitution to the
2-21 claimant imposed by a court as a condition of probation;
2-22 (B) the United States, a federal agency, a state or any of
2-23 its political subdivisions, or an instrumentality of two or more
2-24 states, unless the law providing for the benefits or advantages
2-25 makes them in excess of or secondary to benefits under this
3-1 subchapter;
3-2 (C) social security, Medicare, or Medicaid;
3-3 (D) state-required temporary nonoccupational disability
3-4 insurance;
3-5 (E) workers' compensation;
3-6 (F) an employer's wage continuation program;
3-7 (G) proceeds of an insurance contract payable to the victim
3-8 for loss that the victim sustained because of the criminally
3-9 injurious conduct;
3-10 (H) a contract providing prepaid hospital and other health
3-11 care services or benefits for disability;
3-12 (I) proceeds awarded to the victim as a result of
3-13 third-party litigation;
3-14 (J) proceeds of a life insurance contract payable the
3-15 claimant.
3-16 SECTION 4. Subsection (8) of section 56.32, Code of Criminal
3-17 Procedure, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act is
3-18 amended by the inclusion of subdivision (C) to be read as follows:
3-19 (C) "Pecuniary loss" does not include health care service
3-20 charges in excess of the fee guidelines established by the Texas
3-21 Workers' Compensation Act (Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, Article
3-22 8308-8.21, et seq., as amended). Victims or claimants shall be not
3-23 be responsible for health care service charges in excess of the fee
3-24 guidelines unless a review of the health care services determines
3-25 that there is a reasonable health care justification for the
4-1 deviation.
4-2 SECTION 5. Subsection (a) of section 56.55 of the Code of
4-3 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
4-4 Compensation Act, is hereby amended to read as follows:
4-5 Sec. 56.55. COURT COSTS. (a) A person shall pay:
4-6 (1) <$20> $40 as a court cost on conviction of a felony;
4-7 (2) <$15> $30 as a court cost on conviction of a violation
4-8 of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of more than $200 or
4-9 on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment or by a
4-10 fine of more than $500; or
4-11 (3) <$5> $10 as a court cost on conviction of a violation of
4-12 a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine or not more than $200 or
4-13 on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more
4-14 than $500, other than a conviction of a misdemeanor offense or a
4-15 violation of a municipal ordinance relating to pedestrians and the
4-16 parking of motor vehicles.
4-17 SECTION 6. Chapter 51, of the Government Code is hereby
4-18 amended by the inclusion of Subchapter J, to be read as follows:
4-19 Subchapter J. Additional Fees for Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
4-20 Section 51.901. Additional fee for Crime Victims
4-21 Compensation Fund collected by district clerk.
4-22 (a) In addition to each fee collected under Section
4-23 51.318(b)(10), the district clerk shall collect an additional fee
4-24 of $10 for approving a bond to be deposited to the credit of the
4-25 Compensation to Victims of Crime Fund.
5-1 (b) The district clerk shall send the fees collected under
5-2 this section to the comptroller at least as frequently as monthly.
5-3 The comptroller shall deposit the fees in the Compensation to
5-4 Victims of Crime Fund.
5-5 (c) Sections 51.320 and 51.321 apply to a fee collected
5-6 under this section.
5-7 SECTION 7. Subsection (c) of section 56.47 of the Code of
5-8 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
5-9 Compensation Act, is amended to read as follows:
5-10 (c) An order on reconsideration may not require refund of
5-11 amounts previously paid unless the award was obtained by fraud or
5-12 mistake.
5-13 SECTION 8. Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 42, Article
5-14 42.18 is hereby amended by the inclusion of subsection (o) to be
5-15 read as follows:
5-16 (o) In addition to other conditions of parole and release on
5-17 mandatory supervision imposed under this section, a parole panel
5-18 shall require a prisoner released on parole or mandatory
5-19 supervision to pay an administrative fee of $5 to the pardons and
5-20 paroles division for each month during which the prisoner is under
5-21 parole supervision. The fee applies to a prisoner released in
5-22 another state who is required as a term of his release to report to
5-23 a parole officer or supervisor in this state for parole
5-24 supervision. On the request of the prisoner, a parole panel may
5-25 allow the prisoner to defer payments under this subsection. The
6-1 prisoner remains responsible for payment of the fee and must make
6-2 the deferred payment not later than two years after the date on
6-3 which the payment becomes due. The board of the Texas Department
6-4 of Criminal Justice shall establish rules relating to the method of
6-5 payment required of the person on parole or mandatory supervision.
6-6 Fees collected under this subsection by the pardons and paroles
6-7 division shall be remitted to the comptroller of public accounts,
6-8 who shall deposit the fees in the Compensation to Victims of Crime
6-9 Fund of the state treasury. In a parole or mandatory supervision
6-10 revocation hearing under Section 14 of this article at which it is
6-11 alleged only that the person failed to make a payment under this
6-12 subsection, the inability of the person to pay as ordered by a
6-13 parole panel is an affirmative defense to revocation, which the
6-14 person must prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
6-15 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect on September 1, 1993.
6-16 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
6-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-22 passage, and it is so enacted.