By: Whitmire S.B. No. 765
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the amendment of Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter
1-2 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56,
1-5 Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act, is amended by the
1-6 inclusion of subsections (f), (g), and (h) of section 56.54, to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 56.54. FUNDS. (f) The Office of the Attorney General
1-9 is authorized to accept gifts, grants, and donations to be credited
1-10 to the compensation to victims of crime fund and compensation to
1-11 victims of crime auxiliary fund and shall file annually with the
1-12 governor and the presiding officer of each house of the legislature
1-13 a complete and detailed written report accounting for all gifts,
1-14 grants, and donations received and disbursed, used, or maintained
1-15 by the Office for the Attorney General that are credited to these
1-16 funds.
1-17 (g) Money in the compensation to victims of crime fund or in
1-18 the compensation to victims of crime auxiliary fund may be used
1-19 only as provided by this subchapter and is not available for any
1-20 other purpose.
1-21 (h) Interest accruing from the deposit of money in the
1-22 compensation to victims of crime fund and in the compensation to
1-23 victims of crime auxiliary fund shall be credited to the respective
2-1 funds and may be used only in furtherance of this subchapter.
2-2 SECTION 2. Section 56.57 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
2-3 Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act, is amended to
2-4 read as follows:
2-5 Sec. 56.57. DEPOSIT BY COMPTROLLER; AUDIT. (a) The
2-6 comptroller shall deposit the funds received under Section 56.56 of
2-7 this code and all other moneys credited to the fund by any other
2-8 provision of law in the compensation to victims of crime fund.
2-9 (b) Funds collected are subject to audit by the comptroller.
2-10 Funds spent are subject to audit by the state auditor.
2-11 SECTION 3. Subdivision (3) of section 56.32 of the Code of
2-12 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
2-13 Compensation Act, is amended to read as follows:
2-14 (3) "Collateral source" means any of the following
2-15 sources of benefits or advantages for pecuniary loss that a victim
2-16 has received or that is readily available to the victim:
2-17 (A) the offender under an order or restitution
2-18 to the claimant imposed by a court as a condition of probation;
2-19 (B) the United States, a federal agency, a state
2-20 or any of its political subdivisions, or an instrumentality of two
2-21 or more states, unless the law providing for the benefits or
2-22 advantages makes them in excess of or secondary to benefits under
2-23 this subchapter;
2-24 (C) social security, Medicare, or Medicaid;
2-25 (D) state-required temporary nonoccupational
3-1 disability insurance;
3-2 (E) workers' compensation;
3-3 (F) an employer's wage continuation program;
3-4 (G) proceeds of an insurance contract payable to
3-5 the victim for loss that the victim sustained because of the
3-6 criminally injurious conduct;
3-7 (H) a contract providing prepaid hospital and
3-8 other health care services or benefits for disability;
3-9 (I) proceeds awarded to the victim as a result
3-10 of third-party litigation;
3-11 (J) proceeds of a life insurance contract
3-12 payable to the claimant.
3-13 SECTION 4. Subsection (8) of section 56.32, Code of Criminal
3-14 Procedure, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims Compensation Act is
3-15 amended by the inclusion of subdivision (C) to be read as follows:
3-16 (C) "Pecuniary loss" does not include health
3-17 care service charges in excess of the fee guidelines established by
3-18 the Texas Workers' Compensation Act (Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes,
3-19 Article 8308-8.21, et seq., as amended). Victims or claimants
3-20 shall be not be responsible for health care service charges in
3-21 excess of the fee guidelines unless a review of the health care
3-22 services determines that there is a reasonable health care
3-23 justification for the deviation.
3-24 SECTION 5. Subsection (a) of section 56.55 of the Code of
3-25 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
4-1 Compensation Act, is hereby amended to read as follows:
4-2 Sec. 56.55. COURT COSTS. (a) A person shall pay:
4-3 (1) <$20> $40 as a court cost on conviction of a
4-4 felony;
4-5 (2) <$15> $30 as a court cost on conviction of a
4-6 violation of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of more
4-7 than $200 or on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by
4-8 imprisonment or by a fine of more than $500; or
4-9 (3) <$5> $10 as a court cost on conviction of a
4-10 violation of a municipal ordinance punishable by a fine of not more
4-11 than $200 or on conviction of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
4-12 not more than $500, other than a conviction of a misdemeanor
4-13 offense or a violation of a municipal ordinance relating to
4-14 pedestrians and the parking of motor vehicles.
4-15 SECTION 6. Chapter 51 of the Government Code is hereby
4-16 amended by the inclusion of Subchapter J, to be read as follows:
4-17 Subchapter J. Additional Fees for Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
4-18 Sec. 51.901. ADDITIONAL FEE FOR CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION
4-19 FUND COLLECTED BY DISTRICT CLERK. (a) In addition to each fee
4-20 collected under Section 51.318(b)(10), the district clerk shall
4-21 collect an additional fee of $10 for approving a bond to be
4-22 deposited to the credit of the Compensation to Victims of Crime
4-23 Fund.
4-24 (b) The district clerk shall send the fees collected under
4-25 this section to the comptroller at least as frequently as monthly.
5-1 The comptroller shall deposit the fees in the Compensation to
5-2 Victims of Crime Fund.
5-3 (c) Sections 51.320 and 51.321 apply to a fee collected
5-4 under this section.
5-5 SECTION 7. Subsection (c) of section 56.47 of the Code of
5-6 Criminal Procedure, Chapter 56, Subchapter B, the Crime Victims
5-7 Compensation Act, is amended to read as follows:
5-8 (c) An order on reconsideration may not require refund of
5-9 amounts previously paid unless the award was obtained by fraud or
5-10 mistake.
5-11 SECTION 8. Code of Criminal Procedure, Chapter 42, Article
5-12 42.18 is hereby amended by the inclusion of subsection (o) to be
5-13 read as follows:
5-14 (o) In addition to other conditions of parole and release on
5-15 mandatory supervision imposed under this section, a parole panel
5-16 shall require a prisoner released on parole or mandatory
5-17 supervision to pay an administrative fee of $5 to the pardons and
5-18 paroles division for each month during which the prisoner is under
5-19 parole supervision. The fee applies to a prisoner released in
5-20 another state who is required as a term of his release to report to
5-21 a parole officer or supervisor in this state for parole
5-22 supervision. On the request of the prisoner, a parole panel may
5-23 allow the prisoner to defer payments under this subsection. The
5-24 prisoner remains responsible for payment of the fee and must make
5-25 the deferred payment not later than two years after the date on
6-1 which the payment becomes due. The board of the Texas Department
6-2 of Criminal Justice shall establish rules relating to the method of
6-3 payment required of the person on parole or mandatory supervision.
6-4 Fees collected under this subsection by the pardons and paroles
6-5 division shall be remitted to the comptroller of public accounts,
6-6 who shall deposit the fees in the Compensation to Victims of Crime
6-7 Fund of the state treasury. In a parole or mandatory supervision
6-8 revocation hearing under Section 14 of this article at which it is
6-9 alleged only that the person failed to make a payment under this
6-10 subsection, the inability of the person to pay as ordered by a
6-11 parole panel is an affirmative defense to revocation, which the
6-12 person must prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
6-13 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect on September 1, 1993.
6-14 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
6-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-20 passage, and it is so enacted.