By: King of Uvalde H.B. No. 2877
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to crime victims' compensation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Articles 56B.003(10) and (14), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are 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, for
an immediate family member or [a] household member of the victim,
the necessary expenses of traveling to and attending the funeral;
(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 for a victim of
stalking, family violence, trafficking of persons, or sexual
assault or a child who is a victim of a murder attempt [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; and
(K) for a child described by Subdivision 14(D),
losses are limited to psychiatric care or counseling, and for an
immediate family member or household member of a child described by
Subdivision (14)(D), the necessary expenses of traveling to and
attending the funeral of a victim.
(14) "Victim" means:
(A) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
occurred in this state; and
(ii) is a resident of this state or another
state of the United States;
(B) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
occurred in a state or country that does not have a crime victims'
compensation program that meets the requirements of Section
1403(b), Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. Section 20102(b));
(ii) is a resident of this state; and
(iii) would be entitled to compensation
under this chapter if the criminally injurious conduct or actions
had occurred in this state; [or]
(C) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct caused by an act of
international terrorism as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 2331
committed outside of the United States; and
(ii) is a resident of this state; or[.]
(D) an individual who:
(i) is a child who is enrolled in a public
or private primary or secondary school where criminally injurious
conduct occurs, and as a result of the criminally injurious conduct
the governor has declared a disaster under Section 418.014,
Government Code; and
(ii) is a resident of this state.
SECTION 2. Articles 56B.102(a) and (c), Code of Criminal
Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The [Before acting on an application for compensation
under this chapter, the] attorney general by rule may establish a
process to make an emergency award if it appears likely that[:
[(1) a final award will be made; and
[(2)] the claimant or victim will suffer undue
hardship if immediate economic relief is not obtained.
(c) The rules may provide that the amount of an emergency
award [must] be:
(1) deducted from the final award; or
(2) repaid by and recoverable from the claimant or
victim to the extent the emergency award exceeds the final award.
SECTION 3. Section 552.132(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) If the crime victim or claimant is awarded compensation
under Article 56B.103 or 56B.104, Code of Criminal Procedure, as of
the date of the award of compensation, [the name of the crime victim
or claimant and] the amount of compensation awarded to that crime
victim or claimant is [are] public information and is [are] not
excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.
SECTION 4. The following provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure are repealed:
(1) Article 56B.102(b); and
(2) Articles 56B.106(c) and (d).
SECTION 5. Chapter 56B, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to compensation for criminally
injurious conduct occurring on or after the effective date of this
Act. Compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
criminally injurious conduct occurred before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense underlying the conduct
occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.