87R8147 AJZ-D
By: Raymond H.B. No. 2170
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reimbursing a commissioners court and certain
individuals for the reasonable costs of transporting a body for the
purpose of an autopsy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 49.10, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsections (h-1) and (h-2) to read as follows:
(h-1) A commissioners court that pays a fee to transport a
body to or from a place where an autopsy can be performed under this
article may seek reimbursement for the reasonable costs of the
transportation as provided by this subsection. On application to
the attorney representing the state or the head of a law enforcement
agency, a commissioners court may be reimbursed from civil asset
forfeiture proceeds as provided by Article 59.06(u), regardless of
the circumstances of the death.
(h-2) On application to the attorney general and in
accordance with Chapter 56B, an individual who pays a fee to
transport a body from a place where an autopsy can be performed
under this article, including a family member of the deceased
victim, may be reimbursed from the compensation to victims of crime
fund for the reasonable costs of the transportation if the
physician performing the autopsy determines the death was caused by
unlawful means.
SECTION 2. Article 56B.003(10), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(10) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of the expense
reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury
or death for:
(A) medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric
care or counseling, or physical therapy;
(B) actual loss of past earnings and anticipated
loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of:
(i) a disability resulting from the
personal injury;
(ii) the receipt of medically indicated
services related to the disability; or
(iii) participation in or attendance at
investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes or any
postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to
criminally injurious conduct;
(C) care of a child or dependent, including
specialized care for a child who is a victim;
(D) funeral and burial expenses, including:
(i) [,] for an immediate family member or a
household member of a deceased [the] victim, the necessary expenses
of traveling to and attending the funeral; and
(ii) the reasonable costs of transportation
of the body from a place where an autopsy can be performed if the
physician performing the autopsy determines the death was caused by
unlawful means;
(E) loss of support to a dependent, consistent
with Article 56B.057(b)(5);
(F) reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning
the crime scene;
(G) reasonable replacement costs for clothing,
bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered
unusable as a result of the criminal investigation;
(H) reasonable and necessary costs for
relocation and housing rental assistance payments as provided by
Article 56B.106(c);
(I) for an immediate family member or a household
member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave of not more than 10
work days; and
(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling
to and from a place of execution to witness the execution, including
one night's lodging near the place where the execution is
conducted.
SECTION 3. Article 59.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (u) to read as follows:
(u) As a specific exception to Subsection (c) that the funds
described by that subsection be used only for the official purposes
of the attorney representing the state or for law enforcement
purposes, the attorney representing the state or the head of a law
enforcement agency, as applicable, may use any portion of the gross
amount credited to the attorney's or agency's special fund under
Subsection (c) to reimburse a commissioners court for the
reasonable costs of transporting a body for the purpose of an
autopsy.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.