By: Nelson S.B. No. 745
(In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2013;
February 26, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
Criminal Justice; April 8, 2013, reported adversely, with
favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays
0; April 8, 2013, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 745 By: Hinojosa
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to review and verification procedures, allowing certain
claimants to file an application under the Crime Victims'
Compensation Act, and the administration of the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Crisis Services Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 56.39, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) An order for a mental or physical examination or an
autopsy as provided by Article 56.38(c)(2) [56.38(c)(3)] may be
made for good cause shown on notice to the individual to be examined
and to all persons who have appeared.
SECTION 2. Article 56.61, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by Chapters 496 (S.B. 808) and 716 (H.B. 2916), Acts of the
81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended
to read as follows:
Art. 56.61. COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN CRIMINALLY INJURIOUS
CONDUCT PROHIBITED; EXCEPTION. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), the attorney general may not award compensation for
pecuniary loss arising from criminally injurious conduct that
occurred before January 1, 1980.
(b) The attorney general may award compensation for
pecuniary loss arising from criminally injurious conduct that
occurred before January 1, 1980, if:
(1) the conduct was in violation of Chapter 19, Penal
Code;
(2) the identity of the victim is established by a law
enforcement agency on or after January 1, 2009[, and the pecuniary
loss was incurred with respect to the victim's funeral or burial on
or after that date]; and
(3) the claimant files the application for
compensation within the limitations period provided by Article
56.37(e).
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to criminally injurious conduct committed against a victim whose
identity is established by a law enforcement agency on or after
January 1, 2009. Criminally injurious conduct committed against a
victim whose identity is established by a law enforcement agency
before January 1, 2009, is governed by the law in effect on the date
the victim's identity was established, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. Section 420.003, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivisions (1-e) and (7-a) and amending Subdivisions (5),
(6), and (7) to read as follows:
(1-e) "Minimum services" means:
(A) a 24-hour crisis hotline;
(B) crisis intervention;
(C) public education;
(D) advocacy; and
(E) accompaniment to hospitals, law enforcement
offices, prosecutors' offices, and courts.
(5) "Sexual assault examiner" means a person who uses
an attorney general-approved [a service-approved] evidence
collection kit and protocol to collect and preserve evidence of a
sexual assault or other sex offense.
(6) "Sexual assault nurse examiner" means a registered
nurse who has completed an attorney general-approved [a
service-approved] examiner training course described by Section
420.011 and who is certified according to minimum standards
prescribed by attorney general rule.
(7) "Sexual assault program" means any local public or
private nonprofit corporation, independent of a law enforcement
agency or prosecutor's office, that is operated as an independent
program or as part of a municipal, county, or state agency and that
provides the minimum services to address sexual assault
[established by this chapter].
(7-a) "State sexual assault coalition" means a
statewide nonprofit organization that has been identified as a
state sexual assault coalition by a state or federal agency
authorized to make that designation.
SECTION 5. Section 420.004, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.004. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM [SERVICE].
[(a)] The attorney general shall administer the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Crisis Services Program and may delegate a power or
duty given to the attorney general under this chapter to an employee
in the attorney general's office [Service is a division in the
office of the attorney general].
[(b) The attorney general may adopt rules relating to
assigning service areas, monitoring services, distributing funds,
and collecting information from programs in accordance with this
chapter.]
SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (b), and (d), Section 420.005,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) For purposes described by Section 420.008, the [The]
attorney general may award grants to sexual assault programs, state
sexual assault coalitions, and other appropriate local and
statewide programs and organizations related to sexual assault
[programs described by Section 420.008. A grant may not result in
the reduction of the financial support a program receives from
another source].
(b) The attorney general may by rule:
(1) determine eligibility requirements for any grant
awarded under this chapter;
(2) require a grant recipient to offer minimum
services for not less than nine months before receiving a grant and
to continue to offer minimum services during the grant period; and
(3) require a grant recipient to submit financial and
programmatic reports [require that to be eligible for a grant,
certain programs must provide at a minimum:
[(1) a 24-hour crisis hotline;
[(2) crisis intervention;
[(3) public education;
[(4) advocacy and accompaniment to hospitals, law
enforcement offices, prosecutors' offices, and courts for
survivors and their family members; and
[(5) crisis intervention volunteer training].
(d) This section does not prohibit a grant recipient
[program] from offering any additional service, including a service
for sexual assault offenders.
SECTION 7. Section 420.006, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.006. SPECIAL PROJECTS. The attorney general may
consult and contract with or award grants to entities described by
Section 420.005(a) [local and statewide programs] for special
projects to prevent sexual assault and improve services to
survivors.
SECTION 8. Subsection (b), Section 420.007, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The attorney general may not use more than 15 percent of
the annual legislative appropriation to the attorney general under
Section 420.008(c)(1) [service] for the administration of this
chapter.
SECTION 9. Section 420.009, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.009. REPORT. Not later than December 10 of each
even-numbered year, the [The] attorney general shall publish a
report regarding grants awarded under this chapter [on the service
not later than December 10 of each even-numbered year]. The report
must [summarize reports from programs receiving grants from the
attorney general,] analyze the effectiveness of the grants[,] and
include information on the expenditure of funds authorized by this
chapter, the services provided, the number of persons receiving
services, and any other information relating to the provision of
sexual assault services. A copy of the report shall be submitted to
the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of
representatives, Legislative Budget Board, Senate Committee on
Health and Human Services or its successor committee, and House
Committee on Human Services or its successor committee.
SECTION 10. Section 420.010, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.010. CONFIDENTIALITY. The attorney general may
not disclose any information received from reports, collected case
information, or site-monitoring visits that would identify a person
working at or receiving services from a sexual assault program.
SECTION 11. The heading to Section 420.011, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 420.011. CERTIFICATION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL; [AND]
RULES.
SECTION 12. Subsection (a), Section 420.011, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The attorney general may adopt rules necessary to
implement this chapter. A proposed rule must be provided to grant
recipients [programs receiving grants] at least 60 days before the
date of adoption.
SECTION 13. Subsection (a), Section 420.013, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall deposit any money received under
this subchapter and any money credited to the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Crisis Services Program [program] by another law in
the sexual assault prevention and crisis services fund.
SECTION 14. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 420.031,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The attorney general [service] shall develop and
distribute to law enforcement agencies and proper medical personnel
an evidence collection protocol that shall include collection
procedures and a list of requirements for the contents of an
evidence collection kit for use in the collection and preservation
of evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense. Medical or
law enforcement personnel collecting evidence of a sexual assault
or other sex offense shall use an attorney general-approved [a
service-approved] evidence collection kit and protocol.
(b) An evidence collection kit must contain [the following
items:
[(1)] items to collect and preserve evidence of a
sexual assault or other sex offense[;] and
[(2)] other items [recommended by the Evidence
Collection Protocol Advisory Committee of the attorney general and]
determined necessary for the kit by the attorney general.
(c) In developing the evidence collection kit and protocol
[procedures and requirements], the attorney general [service]
shall consult with individuals and organizations having knowledge
and experience in the issues of sexual assault and other sex
offenses.
SECTION 15. Section 420.051, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 420.051. ADVOCATES FOR SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
An individual may act as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault
for the purposes of Article 56.045, Code of Criminal Procedure, if
the individual has completed a sexual assault training program
certified by the attorney general [department] and is an employee
or volunteer of a sexual assault program[:
[(1) is employed by a sexual assault program; or
[(2) provides services through a sexual assault
program as a volunteer under the supervision of an advocate].
SECTION 16. Subsection (b), Section 420.073, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A survivor or other person authorized to consent may
withdraw consent to the release of information by submitting a
written notice of withdrawal to the person or sexual assault
program to which consent was provided. Withdrawal of consent does
not affect information disclosed before the date written notice of
the withdrawal was received.
SECTION 17. Subsection (e), Section 420.0735, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) A survivor or other person authorized to consent may
withdraw consent to the release of evidence by submitting a written
notice of withdrawal to the person or sexual assault program to
which consent was provided. Withdrawal of consent does not affect
evidence disclosed before the date written notice of the withdrawal
was received.
SECTION 18. Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 420.003, and
Subsections (c) and (f), Section 420.005, Government Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 19. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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