1-1 By: Place, Keel (Senate Sponsor - Shapleigh) H.B. No. 2829
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 1997;
1-3 April 29, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Criminal Justice; May 18, 1997, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the disposition of restitution payments made to victims
1-9 of crime.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. (a) Sections 76.013(a) and (b), Government Code,
1-12 are amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) If a judge requires a defendant to make restitution to a
1-14 victim of the defendant's offense, and a payment is received by a
1-15 department from the defendant for transmittal to a victim of the
1-16 offense, the department that receives the payment for disbursement
1-17 to the victim shall immediately deposit the payment in an
1-18 interest-bearing account in the county treasury as required by
1-19 Section 140.003(f), Local Government Code [department having
1-20 original jurisdiction. The department shall transmit the payment
1-21 to the victim as soon as practicable].
1-22 (b) If an initial restitution payment is received by a
1-23 department, [a victim cannot be located, immediately after
1-24 receiving a final payment in satisfaction of an order of
1-25 restitution for the victim] the department immediately shall
1-26 [attempt to] notify the victim of that fact by certified mail,
1-27 mailed to the last known address of the victim. If a victim then
1-28 makes a claim for payment, the department promptly shall remit the
1-29 payment to the victim. A department is obligated to make a good
1-30 faith effort to locate and notify a victim that an unclaimed
1-31 payment exists. The department satisfies the good faith
1-32 requirement under this subsection by sending to the victim by
1-33 certified mail on any one occasion during the period the defendant
1-34 is required to make payments a notice that the victim is entitled
1-35 to an unclaimed payment. Not earlier than the fifth anniversary of
1-36 the date on which the department mails notice under this
1-37 subsection, if the victim has not made a claim for payment, the
1-38 department shall transfer [the payment] from the interest-bearing
1-39 account to the comptroller all payments received. After making an
1-40 initial transfer of payments to the comptroller under this
1-41 subsection, the department, not later than the 121st day after the
1-42 date the department receives a subsequent payment, shall transfer
1-43 the subsequent payment to the comptroller. The department shall
1-44 deduct[, after deducting] five percent of the payment or subsequent
1-45 payment as a collection fee and deduct [deducting] any interest
1-46 accrued on the payment or subsequent payment before transferring
1-47 the payment to the comptroller under this subsection. The
1-48 comptroller shall deposit the payment in the state treasury to the
1-49 credit of the compensation to victims of crime auxiliary fund.
1-50 (b) In addition to substantive changes made by this section,
1-51 this section conforms Section 76.013, Government Code, to Section
1-52 3.014, Chapter 321, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session,
1-53 1995.
1-54 (c) Section 3.014, Chapter 321, Acts of the 74th
1-55 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is repealed.
1-56 (d) To the extent of any conflict, this section prevails
1-57 over another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
1-58 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
1-59 codes.
1-60 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
1-61 to the distribution of a restitution payment made on or after the
1-62 effective date of this Act. The distribution of a restitution
1-63 payment made before the effective date of this Act is covered by
1-64 the law in effect when the payment was made, and the former law is
2-1 continued in effect for that purpose.
2-2 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-8 * * * * *