By: Harris, Seliger S.B. No. 1377
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administration of the compensation to victims of
crime fund and the compensation to victims of crime auxiliary fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 56.54, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) Not later than September 15 of each year, the attorney
general, after consulting with the comptroller, shall certify the
amount of money remaining in the compensation to victims of crime
auxiliary fund at the end of the preceding state fiscal year. If
the amount remaining in the fund exceeds $5 million, as soon as
practicable after the date of certification, the attorney general
may transfer from that excess amount in the compensation to victims
of crime auxiliary fund to the compensation to victims of crime fund
an amount that is not more than 50 percent of the excess amount in
the auxiliary fund, to be used only for the purpose of making
compensation payments during the fiscal year in which the amount is
transferred.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Article 56.541, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(b) At the time the attorney general certifies the estimates
made under Subsection (a), the attorney general shall also certify
for the next state fiscal biennium the amount of excess money in the
compensation to victims of crime fund available for the purposes of
Subsection (c), calculated by multiplying [subtracting] the amount
estimated under Subsection (a)(2) by 105 percent, and subtracting
that product from the sum of the amounts estimated under
Subsections (a)(1) and (a)(3).
SECTION 3. The attorney general may not transfer money
under Subsection (m), Article 56.54, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
added by this Act, before the 2011 state fiscal year.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.