SRC-BWC S.B. 1247 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 1247 77R8752 JMC-FBy: Gallegos Criminal Justice 4/5/2001 As Filed DIGEST AND PURPOSE Currently, public hospitals and districts provide emergency and other medical care to thousands of crime victims, but often do not receive compensation for these services. The Texas attorney general's office presently makes direct appropriation of funds to other providers such as children's assessment centers, but direct appropriations are not made to public hospitals or hospital districts. As proposed, S.B. 1247 allows public hospitals and hospital districts to receive direct appropriations from the attorney general. It also provides that any excess funds sent by a county to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund which are not used to compensate a victim are to be returned to the county. Finally, the bill allows a public hospital or hospital district to receive grants from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Articles 56.541(c), (d), and (e), Code of Criminal Procedure, to authorize the legislature, for a state fiscal biennium, to appropriate from the compensation to victims of crime fund the amount of excess money in the fund certified for the biennium under Subsection (b) to the attorney general for distribution to public hospitals or hospital districts that provide victim-related services or assistance. Requires the attorney general and the comptroller to cooperate in determining the proper allocation of the various sources of revenue deposited to the credit of the compensation to victims of crime fund for purposes of this article. Requires the attorney general to distribute the excess amount to the public hospital or hospital district in the county for use in providing victim-related services or assistance, if the amount of money that the attorney general receives during a state fiscal year from deposits made under this subchapter to the credit of the compensation to victims of crime fund by a county that has a public hospital or hospital district that provides victim-related services or assistance exceeds the amount of money paid from the fund during that fiscal year to victims located in the county. Authorizes the attorney general to use money appropriated from the compensation to victims of crime fund for grants supporting victim-related services or assistance provided by public hospitals or hospital districts. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2001.