| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to crime victims' compensation. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Article 56B.003(10), Code of Criminal Procedure, |
|
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(10) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of the 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; or |
|
|
(iii) participation in or attendance at |
|
|
investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes or any |
|
|
postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to |
|
|
criminally injurious conduct; |
|
|
(C) care of a child or dependent, including |
|
|
specialized care for a child who is a victim; |
|
|
(D) funeral and burial expenses, including, for |
|
|
an immediate family member or a 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 56B.057(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; |
|
|
(H) reasonable and necessary costs for |
|
|
relocation and housing rental assistance payments as provided by |
|
|
Articles [Article] 56B.106(c) and (c-1); |
|
|
(I) for an immediate family member or a household |
|
|
member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave of not more than 10 |
|
|
work days; and |
|
|
(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling |
|
|
to and from a place of execution to witness the execution, including |
|
|
one night's lodging near the place where the execution is |
|
|
conducted. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Article 56B.106, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (c-1) and |
|
|
(c-2) to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) A victim who is a victim of stalking, family violence, |
|
|
or trafficking of persons, or a victim of sexual assault who is |
|
|
assaulted in the victim's place of residence, may receive a |
|
|
one-time assistance payment in an amount not to exceed: |
|
|
(1) $2,000 to be used for relocation expenses, |
|
|
including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections, |
|
|
expenses relating to moving belongings, motor vehicle mileage |
|
|
expenses, temporary or emergency lodging for not more than seven |
|
|
nights at a rate not to exceed $150 for each night, and for an |
|
|
out-of-state move, expenses for transportation, lodging, and |
|
|
meals; and |
|
|
(2) $1,800 to be used for housing rental expenses. |
|
|
(c-1) A victim other than a victim described by Subsection |
|
|
(c), a dependent of any victim, or an immediate family member or |
|
|
household member of any victim may receive a one-time assistance |
|
|
payment for relocation and housing rental expenses that are |
|
|
necessary to protect the health or safety of the victim, a dependent |
|
|
of the victim, or an immediate family member or household member of |
|
|
the victim. A payment under this subsection may not exceed: |
|
|
(1) $2,000 to be used for relocation expenses, |
|
|
including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections, |
|
|
expenses relating to moving belongings, motor vehicle mileage |
|
|
expenses, temporary or emergency lodging for not more than seven |
|
|
nights at a rate not to exceed $150 for each night, and for an |
|
|
out-of-state move, expenses for transportation, lodging, and |
|
|
meals; and |
|
|
(2) $1,800 to be used for housing rental expenses. |
|
|
(c-2) The attorney general may waive any documentation |
|
|
requirements for expenses described by Subsection (c) or (c-1) as |
|
|
necessary to expedite a payment under either subsection. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Article 56B.107, Code of Criminal Procedure, is |
|
|
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this article, the [The] |
|
|
attorney general may deny or reduce an award otherwise payable: |
|
|
(1) if the claimant or victim has not substantially |
|
|
cooperated with an appropriate law enforcement agency; |
|
|
(2) if, as a result of the claimant's or victim's |
|
|
behavior, the claimant or victim bears a share of the |
|
|
responsibility for the act or omission giving rise to the claim; |
|
|
(3) to the extent that pecuniary loss is recouped from |
|
|
a collateral source; or |
|
|
(4) if the claimant or victim was engaging in an |
|
|
activity that at the time of the criminally injurious conduct was |
|
|
prohibited by law, including a rule. |
|
|
(c) The attorney general may not deny or reduce an award |
|
|
under Subsection (a)(1) based substantially on the interactions of |
|
|
the claimant or victim with a law enforcement agency at the crime |
|
|
scene or hospital. |
|
|
SECTION 4. 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. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |