By: Ellis, Lucio, Van de Putte S.B. No. 440
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 103.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 103.002. CHOICE OF COMPENSATION METHOD; DOUBLE
RECOVERY PROHIBITED. (a) A person entitled to compensation under
Section 103.001 may proceed by following the provisions for
administratively awarded compensation under Subchapter B, [or] by
filing suit under Subchapter C, or by proceeding [but a person may
not seek compensation] under both Subchapters B and C.
(b) The court shall reduce the amount of compensation that a
person is awarded under Subchapter C by the amount of any
compensation that, before the date of the court award, was paid or
was scheduled to be paid to the person under Subchapter B for the
same wrongful imprisonment.
(c) The comptroller shall reduce the amount of compensation
that a person is awarded under Subchapter B by the amount of any
compensation that, before the date of the administrative award, was
paid or was scheduled to be paid to the person as a result of an
award or settlement in a suit filed under Subchapter C for the same
wrongful imprisonment.
(d) If under Subsection (b) or (c) the amount of the
reduction is equal to or greater than the amount of the compensation
being reduced, the court or the comptroller, as applicable, may not
award additional compensation.
SECTION 2. Section 103.003, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 103.003. LIMITATION ON TIME TO FILE. (a) Not later
than the third anniversary of the date the person received the
pardon or was found not guilty as required by Section 103.001, a
person seeking compensation under this chapter must:
(1) file an application with the comptroller for
compensation under Subchapter B; or
(2) file suit against the state for compensation under
Subchapter C.
(b) The filing of an application for compensation under
Subchapter B tolls the limitation period that is provided by
Subsection (a)(2) and that is applicable to a suit filed under
Subchapter C by the same person for the same wrongful imprisonment
until the date the comptroller makes a determination under Section
103.051(c).
SECTION 3. Section 103.052, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
(a-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a [A] person who
meets the requirements of Section 103.001 is entitled to
compensation in an amount equal to $50,000[:
[(1) $25,000] multiplied by the number of years served
in prison, expressed as a fraction to reflect partial years[, if the
time served is less than 20 years; or
[(2) $500,000 if the time served is 20 years or more].
(a-1) A person sentenced to death who meets the requirements
of Section 103.001 is entitled to compensation in an amount equal to
$100,000 multiplied by the number of years served in prison,
expressed as a fraction to reflect partial years.
SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 103.153, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 103.002, a [A] person who
receives compensation under this chapter may not bring any action
involving the same subject matter, including an action involving
the person's arrest, conviction, or length of confinement, against
any governmental unit or an employee of any governmental unit.
SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 103.105, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, is repealed.
SECTION 6. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
Section 103.052, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies to an
administrative proceeding for compensation for wrongful
imprisonment for which the application is filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date of the filing, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 103.105,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies to an action:
(1) commenced on or after the effective date of this
Act; or
(2) pending on that effective date and in which the
trial, or any new trial or retrial following motion, appeal, or
otherwise, begins on or after that effective date.
(c) In an action commenced before the effective date of this
Act, a trial, new trial, or retrial that is in progress on the
effective date is governed by the law applicable to the trial, new
trial, or retrial immediately before the effective date, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
103.002 and 103.003, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, apply
without regard to whether a person has filed an application under
Subchapter B, Chapter 103, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or has
commenced an action under Subchapter C, Chapter 103, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, before the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.