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78R5915 KEL-D

By:  Hope                                                         H.B. No. 1895



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the compensation provided to an immediate family member 
or a household member of a deceased victim for funeral attendance 
and bereavement leave.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Articles 56.32(a)(2) and (9), Code of Criminal 
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
		(2)  "Claimant" means, except as provided by Subsection 
(b), any of the following individuals who is entitled to file or has 
filed a claim for compensation under this subchapter:
			(A)  an authorized individual acting on behalf of 
a victim;                
			(B)  an individual who legally assumes the 
obligation or who voluntarily pays medical or burial expenses of a 
victim incurred as a result of the criminally injurious conduct of 
another;
			(C)  a dependent of a victim who died as a result 
of criminally injurious conduct;
			(D)  an immediate family member or household 
member of a victim who:
				(i)  requires psychiatric care or counseling 
as a result of the criminally injurious conduct;  or
				(ii)  as a result of the criminally 
injurious conduct, incurs with respect to a deceased victim 
expenses for traveling to and attending the victim's funeral or 
suffers wage loss from bereavement leave taken in connection with 
the death of that victim;  or
			(E)  an authorized individual acting on behalf of 
an individual who is described by Subdivision (C) or (D) and who is 
a child.
		(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, including, for 
an immediate family or household member of the victim, the 
necessary expenses of traveling to and attending the funeral;
			(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;  
and
			(I)  for an immediate family or household member 
of a deceased victim, bereavement leave of not more than 10 work 
days.
	SECTION 2.  Article 56.42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to 
read as follows:
	(c)  The attorney general may by rule establish limitations 
on any other pecuniary loss compensated for under this subchapter, 
including limitations on pecuniary loss incurred as a result of a 
claimant's travel to and attendance of a deceased victim's funeral.
	(e)  An immediate family or household member of a deceased 
victim may not receive more than $1,000 in lost wages as a result of 
bereavement leave taken by the family or household member.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a 
pecuniary loss arising from the death of a victim of a criminal 
offense committed or a violation that occurs on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  For purposes of this Act, a criminal 
offense is committed or a violation occurs before the effective 
date of this Act if any element of the offense or violation occurs 
before that date.  A pecuniary loss arising from the death of a 
victim of 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 criminal offense was committed or the violation 
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.