87R2078 NC-F
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 978
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing the comptroller to release a reported
owner's unclaimed property to the owner's crime victim in certain
circumstances.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 493, Government Code, is amended by
adding Section 493.034 to read as follows:
Sec. 493.034. UNCLAIMED PROPERTY CLAIMS FILED ON BEHALF OF
CRIME VICTIMS. (a) The department shall file a claim for unclaimed
property under Section 74.501, Property Code, on behalf of a victim
of a criminal offense if the reported owner of the unclaimed
property:
(1) was finally convicted of the criminal offense in
this state; and
(2) based on the final conviction:
(A) owes criminal restitution to the victim; and
(B) on the date the claim is submitted, is
incarcerated in the custody of this state.
(b) The department shall determine annually from the list
published by the comptroller under Section 74.307, Property Code,
and information in the department's possession the claims that the
department is required to file under Subsection (a).
(c) The department may adopt rules necessary to administer
this section.
SECTION 2. Section 74.501(e), Property Code, as amended by
Chapters 267 (S.B. 1420) and 897 (H.B. 3598), Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
(e) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (f) and
(g) and [or] Section 551.051, Estates Code, the comptroller may not
pay to the following persons a claim to which this section applies:
(1) a creditor, a judgment creditor, a lienholder, or
an assignee of the reported owner or of the owner's heirs;
(2) a person holding a power of attorney from the
reported owner or the owner's heirs; or
(3) a person attempting to make a claim on behalf of a
corporation that was previously forfeited, dissolved, or
terminated, if the comptroller finds that:
(A) the corporation was revived for the purpose
of making a claim under this section; and
(B) the person submitting the claim was not an
authorized representative of the corporation at the time of the
corporation's forfeiture, dissolution, or termination.
SECTION 3. Section 74.501, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) The comptroller may approve a claim for unclaimed
property that complies with Section 493.034, Government Code,
submitted under this subsection by the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice on behalf of a victim of a criminal offense for which the
reported owner of the unclaimed property was finally convicted.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a claim filed under Section 74.501, Property Code, on or after
the effective date of this Act. A claim filed under that section
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 5. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.