79R551 KSD-D
By: Ellis S.B. No. 476
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the payment of child support obligations on behalf of
persons wrongfully imprisoned.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 103.052, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(a) A person who meets the requirements of Section 103.001
is entitled to:
(1) compensation in an amount equal to:
(A) [(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
(B) [(2)] $500,000 if the time served is 20 years
or more; and
(2) compensation for child support payments owed by
the person that became due and interest on child support arrearages
that accrued during the time served in prison but were not paid.
(b) A person who is owed an amount of compensation under
Subsection (a)(1) equal to or greater than $50,000 shall be paid
that compensation in two equal annual installments.
(d) The amount of compensation under Subsection (a)(2) to
which a person is entitled shall be paid on the person's behalf in a
lump-sum payment to the state disbursement unit, as defined by
Section 101.0302, Family Code, for distribution to the obligee
under the child support order.
SECTION 2. Sections 103.105(a) and (c), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) If the trier of fact finds that the petitioner is
entitled to compensation, the petitioner is entitled to:
(1) expenses incurred by the petitioner in connection
with all associated criminal proceedings and appeals and in
connection with obtaining the petitioner's discharge from
imprisonment, including any fine or court costs paid and reasonable
attorney's fees, including reasonable attorney's fees for
prosecuting the lawsuit under this subchapter;
(2) wages, salary, or other earned income that was
lost as a direct result of the arrest, prosecution, conviction, or
wrongful imprisonment; [and]
(3) medical and counseling expenses incurred by the
petitioner as a direct result of the arrest, prosecution,
conviction, or wrongful imprisonment; and
(4) child support payments owed by the petitioner that
became due and interest on child support arrearages that accrued
during the time served in prison but were not paid.
(c) Excluding the amount of child support payments and
interest on child support arrearages under Subsection (a)(4), total
[Total] damages assessed under this subchapter may not exceed
$500,000.
SECTION 3. Sections 103.151(a) and (c), Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall make the first installment
payment due an applicant and the lump-sum payment, if any, to be
paid to the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section
101.0302, Family Code, under Subchapter B, to the extent that funds
are available and appropriated for that purpose, not later than the
30th day after the date the comptroller grants the application.
(c) If appropriated funds are insufficient to pay the amount
due an applicant and the amount to be paid to the state disbursement
unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code, money shall be
paid under the procedure described by Section 103.152.
SECTION 4. Section 103.152, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 103.152. PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION. (a) Not later than
November 1 of each even-numbered year, the comptroller shall
provide a list of claimants entitled to payment under Subchapter B
or C and the amounts due for each claimant to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the chair of the appropriate committee in
each house of the legislature so that the legislature may
appropriate the amount needed to pay the amount owed to each
claimant and the amount to be paid to the state disbursement unit,
as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code, on the claimant's
behalf [the amount owed].
(b) Not later than September 1 of the year in which an
appropriation under this chapter has been made by the legislature,
the comptroller shall pay the required amount to each claimant and
the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family
Code.
(c) The amount of compensation awarded under Section
103.105(a)(4) must be paid on the claimant's behalf in a lump-sum
payment to the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section
101.0302, Family Code, for distribution to the obligee under the
child support order.
SECTION 5. Section 103.154, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 103.154. TERMINATION OF PAYMENTS. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (c), compensation [Compensation] payments
to a person under this chapter terminate if, after the date the
person becomes eligible for compensation under Section 103.001, the
person is convicted of a crime punishable as a felony. Compensation
payments terminate under this subsection on the date of the
subsequent conviction.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), compensation
[Compensation] payments to a person under this chapter terminate on
the date of the person's death. Any payments scheduled to be paid
after that date are credited to the state and may not be paid to any
other person, including the person's surviving spouse, heirs,
devisees, or beneficiaries under the person's will, or to the
person's estate.
(c) This section does not apply to compensation for child
support payments and interest on child support arrearages to be
paid on a person's behalf under this chapter to the state
disbursement unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code.
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
action or application for compensation under Chapter 103, Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, as amended by this Act, that is pending
or commenced on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.