|
INTRODUCED
|
HOUSE COMMITTEE
SUBSTITUTE
|
|
SECTION 1. Article 56.46,
Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(d) Subsection (a) does
not apply to reimbursement for a forensic medical examination performed in
accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 420, Government Code, or for any
other medical care described by Section 323.004, Health and Safety Code, if
the examination or care was provided to the victim of an offense under
Section 21.02, 21.11, 22.011, or 22.021, Penal Code.
|
No
equivalent provision. (See Sections 56.06 (f) and 56.065(k), Code
of Criminal Procedure, below.)
|
|
No
equivalent provision.
|
SECTION 1. The heading to
Article 56.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 56.06. FORENSIC
MEDICAL EXAMINATION FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM WHO HAS REPORTED ASSAULT;
COSTS.
|
|
No
equivalent provision.
|
SECTION 2. Article 56.06,
Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (b),
(c), and (d) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(a) If a sexual assault is
reported to a law enforcement agency within 96 hours of the assault, the
law enforcement agency, with the consent of the victim, a person authorized
to act on behalf of the victim, or an employee of the Department of Family
and Protective Services, shall request a forensic medical
examination of the victim of the alleged assault for use in the
investigation or prosecution of the offense. A law enforcement agency may
decline to request a forensic medical examination under this
subsection only if the person reporting the sexual assault has made one or
more false reports of sexual assault to any law enforcement agency and if
there is no other evidence to corroborate the current allegations of sexual
assault.
(b) If a sexual assault is
not reported within the period described by Subsection (a), on receiving
the consent described by that subsection the law enforcement agency may
request a forensic medical examination of a victim of an alleged
sexual assault as considered appropriate by the agency.
(c) A law enforcement agency
that requests a forensic medical examination of a victim of an
alleged sexual assault for use in the investigation or prosecution of the
offense shall pay all costs of the examination. On application to the
attorney general, the law enforcement agency is entitled to be reimbursed
for the reasonable costs of that examination if the examination was
performed by a physician or by a sexual assault examiner or sexual assault
nurse examiner, as defined by Section 420.003, Government Code.
(d) A law enforcement agency
or prosecuting attorney's office may pay all costs related to the testimony
of a licensed health care professional in a criminal proceeding regarding
the results of the forensic medical examination or manner in which
it was performed.
|
|
No
equivalent provision. (See SECTION 1 above.)
|
(f) The attorney general
may make a payment to or on behalf of an individual for the reasonable
costs incurred for medical care provided in accordance with Section
323.004, Health and Safety Code.
|
|
No
equivalent provision. (See SECTION 1 above.)
|
SECTION 3. Article 56.065,
Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (k) to read as
follows:
(k) The attorney general
may make a payment to or on behalf of an individual for the reasonable
costs incurred for medical care provided in accordance with Section
323.004, Health and Safety Code.
|
|
No
equivalent provision.
|
SECTION 4. Article 56.54(k),
Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(k) The attorney general may
use the compensation to victims of crime fund to:
(1) reimburse a law
enforcement agency for the reasonable costs of a forensic medical
examination that are incurred by the agency under Article 56.06 or
56.065; and
(2) make a payment to or
on behalf of an individual for the reasonable costs incurred for medical
care provided under Article 56.06 or 56.065 in accordance with Section
323.004, Health and Safety Code.
|
|
SECTION 2. The change in law
made by this Act applies only to
compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring on or after
the effective date of this Act. Compensation
for criminally injurious conduct occurring before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, criminally injurious conduct occurred before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense underlying the
conduct occurred before that date.
|
SECTION 5. The change in law
made by this Act applies only to payments
made for medical care provided on or after the effective date of
this Act. Payments made for medical care
provided before the effective date of this Act are governed by the
law in effect on the date the care was
provided, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes
effect September 1, 2015.
|
SECTION 6. Same as introduced
version.
|
|
|
|