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.