H.B. No. 2159
AN ACT
relating to requiring the payment of restitution as a condition of
community supervision for offenses involving family violence
committed in the presence of certain children.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Article 42.0373 to read as follows:
Art. 42.0373. MANDATORY RESTITUTION FOR CHILD WITNESS OF
FAMILY VIOLENCE. (a) If after a conviction or a grant of deferred
adjudication a court places a defendant on community supervision
for an offense involving family violence, as defined by Section
71.004, Family Code, the court shall determine from the complaint,
information, indictment, or other charging instrument, the
presentence report, or other evidence before the court whether:
(1) the offense was committed in the physical presence
of, or in the same habitation or vehicle occupied by, a person
younger than 15 years of age; and
(2) at the time of the offense, the defendant had
knowledge or reason to know that the person younger than 15 years of
age was physically present or occupied the same habitation or
vehicle.
(b) If the court determines both issues described by
Subsection (a) in the affirmative, the court shall order the
defendant to pay restitution in an amount equal to the cost of
necessary rehabilitation, including medical, psychiatric, and
psychological care and treatment, for a person described by
Subsection (a)(1).
(c) The court shall, after considering the financial
circumstances of the defendant, specify in a restitution order
issued under Subsection (b) the manner in which the defendant must
pay the restitution. The order must require restitution payments to
be delivered in the manner described by Article 42.037(g)(4)(iii).
(d) A restitution order issued under Subsection (b) may be
enforced by the state, or by a person or a parent or guardian of the
person named in the order to receive the restitution, in the same
manner as a judgment in a civil action.
(e) The court may hold a hearing, make findings of fact, and
amend a restitution order issued under Subsection (b) if the
defendant fails to pay the person named in the order in the manner
specified by the court.
(f) A determination under this article may not be entered as
an affirmative finding in the judgment for the offense for which the
defendant was placed on community supervision.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2159 was passed by the House on May
15, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 128, Nays 11, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2159 on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 3,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2159 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor