By: Ellis  S.B. No. 167
         (In the Senate - Filed January 5, 2007; January 29, 2007,
  read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
  March 26, 2007, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; March 26, 2007,
  sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 167 By:  Seliger
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the administrative procedure for compensation for
  wrongful imprisonment.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 103.051, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
  (b-1) to read as follows:
         (a)  To apply for compensation under this subchapter, the
  claimant must file with the comptroller's judiciary section:
               (1)  an application for compensation provided for that
  purpose by the comptroller;
               (2)  a verified copy of the pardon or court order
  justifying the application for compensation; and
               (3)  a statement provided by the Texas Department of
  Criminal Justice verifying the length of incarceration[; and
               [(4)     a certification of the claimant's actual
  innocence of the crime for which the claimant was sentenced that is
  signed by the attorney representing the state in the prosecution of
  felonies in the county in which the sentence was rendered].
         (b-1)  In determining the eligibility of a claimant, the
  comptroller shall consider only the verified copy of the pardon or
  court order filed by the claimant under Subsection (a). If the
  pardon or court order does not clearly indicate on its face that the
  pardon or the court order was granted or rendered on the basis of
  the claimant's actual innocence of the crime for which the claimant
  was sentenced, the comptroller shall deny the claim. The
  comptroller's duty to determine the eligibility of a claimant under
  this section is purely ministerial.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an application for compensation under Section 103.051, Civil
  Practice and Remedies Code, that 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 as it existed on the date of filing,
  and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
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