84R138 SCL-D
By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 1079
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the distribution of certain civil penalties and civil
restitution received by the attorney general.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 402.007(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Subject to Subsection (d), the comptroller shall credit
to the judicial fund for programs approved by the supreme court that
provide basic civil legal services to the indigent the net amount
of:
(1) a civil penalty that is recovered in an action by
the attorney general [in any matter actionable under Subchapter E,
Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code], after deducting amounts
allocated to or retained by the attorney general as authorized by
law, unless:
(A) another law requires that the penalty be
credited to a different fund or account; or
(B) the judgment awarding the penalty requires
that the penalty be paid to another named recipient; and
(2) civil restitution recovered by the attorney
general in an action brought by the attorney general [arising from
conduct that violates a consumer protection, public health, or
general welfare law,] if, on the hearing of an ex parte motion filed
by the attorney general after the entry of a judgment awarding civil
restitution, the court:
(A) determines that, based on the facts and
circumstances of the case:
(i) it is impossible or impracticable to
identify injured parties;
(ii) it is impossible or impracticable to
determine the degree to which each claimant was injured and
entitled to recover;
(iii) the cost of administering a claim
procedure will disproportionately reduce the amount of restitution
available for the payment of individual claims; or
(iv) the claims of all identifiable persons
eligible to receive restitution have been paid without exhausting
the funds available for restitution; and
(B) enters a judgment or order that the
restitution be credited to the judicial fund for programs approved
by the supreme court that provide basic civil legal services to the
indigent.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a civil penalty or civil restitution that is received by the
attorney general on or after the effective date of this Act. A
civil penalty or civil restitution received by the attorney general
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.