By Keel                                                H.B. No. 347
         77R2277 JAT-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to compensation under the Crime Victims' Compensation Act
 1-3     for necessary costs incurred in witnessing an execution.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Article 56.32(a)(9), Code of Criminal Procedure,
 1-6     is amended to read as follows:
 1-7                 (9)  "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of expense
 1-8     reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury
 1-9     or death for:
1-10                       (A)  medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric
1-11     care or counseling, or physical therapy;
1-12                       (B)  actual loss of past earnings and anticipated
1-13     loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of:
1-14                             (i)  a disability resulting from the
1-15     personal injury;
1-16                             (ii)  the receipt of medically indicated
1-17     services related to the disability resulting from the personal
1-18     injury; or
1-19                             (iii)  participation in or attendance at
1-20     investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes related to the
1-21     criminally injurious conduct and participation in or attendance at
1-22     any postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to
1-23     criminally injurious conduct;
1-24                       (C)  care of a child or dependent;
 2-1                       (D)  funeral and burial expenses;
 2-2                       (E)  loss of support to a dependent, consistent
 2-3     with Article 56.41(b)(5);
 2-4                       (F)  reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning
 2-5     the crime scene;
 2-6                       (G)  reasonable replacement costs for clothing,
 2-7     bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered
 2-8     unusable as a result of the criminal investigation; [and]
 2-9                       (H)  reasonable and necessary costs, as provided
2-10     by Article 56.42(d), incurred by a victim of domestic violence for
2-11     relocation and housing rental assistance payments; and
2-12                       (I)  reasonable and necessary costs of traveling
2-13     to and from a place of execution for the purpose of witnessing the
2-14     execution, including one night's lodging near the place at which
2-15     the execution is conducted.
2-16           SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to
2-17     compensation for costs incurred on or after the effective date of
2-18     this Act. Compensation for costs incurred before the effective date
2-19     of this Act is covered by the law in effect on the date the costs
2-20     were incurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-21     purpose.
2-22           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-23     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-24     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-25     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-26     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.