Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB145 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 145
2	2	(Dale)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to reimbursement of certain medical costs for victims of
8	8	certain sex offenses and compensation to victims of stalking for
9	9	relocation and housing rental expenses.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. The heading to Article 56.06, Code of Criminal
12	12	Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
13	13	Art. 56.06. FORENSIC MEDICAL EXAMINATION FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT
14	14	VICTIM WHO HAS REPORTED ASSAULT; COSTS.
15	15	SECTION 2. Article 56.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
16	16	amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) and adding
17	17	Subsection (f) to read as follows:
18	18	(a) If a sexual assault is reported to a law enforcement
19	19	agency within 96 hours of the assault, the law enforcement agency,
20	20	with the consent of the victim, a person authorized to act on behalf
21	21	of the victim, or an employee of the Department of Family and
22	22	Protective Services, shall request a forensic medical examination
23	23	of the victim of the alleged assault for use in the investigation or
24	24	prosecution of the offense. A law enforcement agency may decline to
25	25	request a forensic medical examination under this subsection only
26	26	if the person reporting the sexual assault has made one or more
27	27	false reports of sexual assault to any law enforcement agency and if
28	28	there is no other evidence to corroborate the current allegations
29	29	of sexual assault.
30	30	(b) If a sexual assault is not reported within the period
31	31	described by Subsection (a), on receiving the consent described by
32	32	that subsection the law enforcement agency may request a forensic
33	33	medical examination of a victim of an alleged sexual assault as
34	34	considered appropriate by the agency.
35	35	(c) A law enforcement agency that requests a forensic
36	36	medical examination of a victim of an alleged sexual assault for use
37	37	in the investigation or prosecution of the offense shall pay all
38	38	costs of the examination. On application to the attorney general,
39	39	the law enforcement agency is entitled to be reimbursed for the
40	40	reasonable costs of that examination if the examination was
41	41	performed by a physician or by a sexual assault examiner or sexual
42	42	assault nurse examiner, as defined by Section 420.003, Government
43	43	Code.
44	44	(d) A law enforcement agency or prosecuting attorney's
45	45	office may pay all costs related to the testimony of a licensed
46	46	health care professional in a criminal proceeding regarding the
47	47	results of the forensic medical examination or manner in which it
48	48	was performed.
49	49	(f) The attorney general may make a payment to or on behalf
50	50	of an individual for the reasonable costs incurred for medical care
51	51	provided in accordance with Section 323.004, Health and Safety
52	52	Code.
53	53	SECTION 3. Article 56.065, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
54	54	amended by adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:
55	55	(k) The attorney general may make a payment to or on behalf
56	56	of an individual for the reasonable costs incurred for medical care
57	57	provided in accordance with Section 323.004, Health and Safety
58	58	Code.
59	59	SECTION 4. Article 56.32(a)(9), Code of Criminal Procedure,
60	60	is amended to read as follows:
61	61	(9) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of expense
62	62	reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury
63	63	or death for:
64	64	(A) medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric
65	65	care or counseling, or physical therapy;
66	66	(B) actual loss of past earnings and anticipated
67	67	loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of:
68	68	(i) a disability resulting from the
69	69	personal injury;
70	70	(ii) the receipt of medically indicated
71	71	services related to the disability resulting from the personal
72	72	injury; or
73	73	(iii) participation in or attendance at
74	74	investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes related to the
75	75	criminally injurious conduct and participation in or attendance at
76	76	any postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to
77	77	criminally injurious conduct;
78	78	(C) care of a child or dependent;
79	79	(D) funeral and burial expenses, including, for
80	80	an immediate family member or household member of the victim, the
81	81	necessary expenses of traveling to and attending the funeral;
82	82	(E) loss of support to a dependent, consistent
83	83	with Article 56.41(b)(5);
84	84	(F) reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning
85	85	the crime scene;
86	86	(G) reasonable replacement costs for clothing,
87	87	bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered
88	88	unusable as a result of the criminal investigation;
89	89	(H) reasonable and necessary costs for
90	90	relocation and housing rental assistance payments[,] as provided by
91	91	Article 56.42(d)[, incurred by a victim of family violence or a
92	92	victim of sexual assault who is assaulted in the victim's place of
93	93	residence for relocation and housing rental assistance payments];
94	94	(I) for an immediate family member or household
95	95	member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave of not more than 10
96	96	work days; and
97	97	(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling
98	98	to and from a place of execution for the purpose of witnessing the
99	99	execution, including one night's lodging near the place at which
100	100	the execution is conducted.
101	101	SECTION 5. Article 56.42(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
102	102	amended to read as follows:
103	103	(d) A victim who is a victim of stalking, family violence,
104	104	or [a victim of] trafficking of persons, or a victim of sexual
105	105	assault who is assaulted in the victim's place of residence, may
106	106	receive a onetime-only assistance payment in an amount not to
107	107	exceed:
108	108	(1) $2,000 to be used for relocation expenses,
109	109	including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections,
110	110	expenses relating to the moving of belongings, motor vehicle
111	111	mileage expenses, and for out-of-state moves, transportation,
112	112	lodging, and meals; and
113	113	(2) $1,800 to be used for housing rental expenses.
114	114	SECTION 6. Article 56.54(k), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
115	115	amended to read as follows:
116	116	(k) The attorney general may use the compensation to victims
117	117	of crime fund to:
118	118	(1) reimburse a law enforcement agency for the
119	119	reasonable costs of a forensic medical examination that are
120	120	incurred by the agency under Article 56.06 or 56.065; and
121	121	(2) make a payment to or on behalf of an individual for
122	122	the reasonable costs incurred for medical care provided under
123	123	Article 56.06 or 56.065 in accordance with Section 323.004, Health
124	124	and Safety Code.
125	125	SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by this Act relating
126	126	to reimbursement of certain medical costs applies only to payments
127	127	made for medical care provided on or after the effective date of
128	128	this Act. Payments made for medical care provided before the
129	129	effective date of this Act are governed by the law in effect on the
130	130	date the care was provided, and the former law is continued in
131	131	effect for that purpose.
132	132	(b) The change in law made by this Act relating to
133	133	compensation for relocation and housing rental expenses applies
134	134	only to a victim of a criminal offense committed or a violation that
135	135	occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The victim of a
136	136	criminal offense committed or a violation that occurs before the
137	137	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
138	138	date the offense was committed or the violation occurred, and the
139	139	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
140	140	this subsection, a criminal offense was committed or a violation
141	141	occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
142	142	offense or violation occurred before that date.
143	143	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.