78R5498 EMT-D

By:  Rodriguez                                                    H.B. No. 1051



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the compensation provided to a family violence or 
sexual assault victim for relocation and housing rental expenses.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 56.32(a)(9), Code of Criminal Procedure, 
is amended to read as follows:
		(9)  "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of expense 
reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury 
or death for:
			(A)  medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric 
care or counseling, or physical therapy;
			(B)  actual loss of past earnings and anticipated 
loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of:
				(i)  a disability resulting from the 
personal injury;                     
				(ii)  the receipt of medically indicated 
services related to the disability resulting from the personal 
injury;  or
				(iii) participation in or attendance at 
investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes related to the 
criminally injurious conduct and participation in or attendance at 
any postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to 
criminally injurious conduct;
			(C)  care of a child or dependent;                                           
			(D)  funeral and burial expenses;                                            
			(E)  loss of support to a dependent, consistent 
with Article 56.41(b)(5);  
			(F)  reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning 
the crime scene;           
			(G)  reasonable replacement costs for clothing, 
bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered 
unusable as a result of the criminal investigation;  and
			(H)  reasonable and necessary costs, as provided 
by Article 56.42(d), incurred by a victim of family violence or [a 
victim of] sexual assault [who is assaulted in the victim's place of 
residence] for relocation and housing rental assistance payments.
	SECTION 2.  (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                       
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act applies only to a 
victim of a criminal offense committed or a violation that occurs on 
or after the effective date of this Act.  A criminal offense 
committed or a violation that occurs before the effective date of 
this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was 
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.  For purposes of this section, a criminal offense was 
committed or a violation occurred before the effective date of this 
Act if any element of the offense or violation occurred before that 
date.