By:  Zaffirini, Barrientos                            S.B. No. 1202
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the limits on compensation paid by the state to certain
 1-3     victims of crime.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (b), Article 56.42, Code of
 1-6     Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  Except as otherwise provided by this article, awards
 1-8     payable to a victim and all other claimants sustaining pecuniary
 1-9     loss because of injury or death of that victim may not exceed
1-10     $100,000 [$50,000] in the aggregate.
1-11           (b)  In addition to an award payable under Subsection (a),
1-12     the attorney general may award an additional $75,000 [$50,000] for
1-13     extraordinary pecuniary losses, if the personal injury to a victim
1-14     is catastrophic and results in a total and permanent disability to
1-15     the victim, for lost wages and reasonable and necessary costs of:
1-16                 (1)  making a home or automobile accessible;
1-17                 (2)  obtaining job training and vocational
1-18     rehabilitation;
1-19                 (3)  training in the use of special appliances; [and]
1-20                 (4)  receiving home health care;
1-21                 (5)  durable medical equipment;
1-22                 (6)  rehabilitation technology; and
1-23                 (7)  long-term medical expenses incurred as a result of
1-24     medically indicated treatment for the personal injury.
1-25           SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
 2-1     only to a claim for compensation from the compensation to victims
 2-2     of crime fund based on an offense committed or a violation that
 2-3     occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.  For purposes of
 2-4     this section, an offense was committed or a violation occurred
 2-5     before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
 2-6     or violation occurred before that date.
 2-7           (b)  A claim for compensation from the compensation to
 2-8     victims of crime fund based on an offense committed or a violation
 2-9     that occurred before the effective date of this Act is covered by
2-10     the law in effect when the offense was committed or the violation
2-11     occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-12     purpose.
2-13           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.