Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2877 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: King of Uvalde, Collier, Morales of Maverick H.B. No. 2877
2	2	(Senate Sponsor - Blanco)
3	3	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2023;
4	4	April 24, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on
5	5	Criminal Justice; May 18, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable
6	6	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
7	7	May 18, 2023, sent to printer.)
8	8	Click here to see the committee vote
9	9	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2877 By: Hinojosa
10	10
11	11
12	12	COMMITTEE VOTE
13	13	YeaNayAbsentPNV
14	14	WhitmireX
15	15	FloresX
16	16	BettencourtX
17	17	HinojosaX
18	18	HuffmanX
19	19	KingX
20	20	MilesX
21	21	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
22	22	AN ACT
23	23	relating to crime victims' compensation.
24	24	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
25	25	SECTION 1. Article 56B.003(14), Code of Criminal Procedure,
26	26	is amended to read as follows:
27	27	(14) "Victim" means:
28	28	(A) an individual who:
29	29	(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
30	30	result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
31	31	taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
32	32	occurred in this state; and
33	33	(ii) is a resident of this state or another
34	34	state of the United States;
35	35	(B) an individual who:
36	36	(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
37	37	result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
38	38	taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
39	39	occurred in a state or country that does not have a crime victims'
40	40	compensation program that meets the requirements of Section
41	41	1403(b), Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. Section 20102(b));
42	42	(ii) is a resident of this state; and
43	43	(iii) would be entitled to compensation
44	44	under this chapter if the criminally injurious conduct or actions
45	45	had occurred in this state; [or]
46	46	(C) an individual who:
47	47	(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
48	48	result of criminally injurious conduct caused by an act of
49	49	international terrorism as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 2331
50	50	committed outside of the United States; and
51	51	(ii) is a resident of this state; or
52	52	(D) an individual who:
53	53	(i) is a child enrolled in a public or
54	54	private primary or secondary school where criminally injurious
55	55	conduct for which the governor issued a disaster declaration under
56	56	Section 418.014, Government Code, has occurred, but who was not
57	57	present at the time of the conduct; and
58	58	(ii) is a resident of this state.
59	59	SECTION 2. Articles 56B.102(a) and (c), Code of Criminal
60	60	Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
61	61	(a) The [Before acting on an application for compensation
62	62	under this chapter, the] attorney general by rule may establish a
63	63	process to make an emergency award if it appears likely that[:
64	64	[(1) a final award will be made; and
65	65	[(2)] the claimant or victim will suffer undue
66	66	hardship if immediate economic relief is not obtained.
67	67	(c) The rules may provide that the amount of an emergency
68	68	award [must] be:
69	69	(1) deducted from the final award; or
70	70	(2) repaid by and recoverable from the claimant or
71	71	victim to the extent the emergency award exceeds the final award.
72	72	SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 56B, Code of Criminal
73	73	Procedure, is amended by adding Article 56B.1035 to read as
74	74	follows:
75	75	Art. 56B.1035. COMPENSATION FOR PECUNIARY LOSS LIMITED IN
76	76	CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. Notwithstanding any other law,
77	77	compensation for pecuniary loss with respect to a victim described
78	78	by Article 56B.003(14)(D) is limited to:
79	79	(1) psychiatric care or counseling for the victim; and
80	80	(2) for an immediate family member or household member
81	81	of the victim, the necessary expenses of traveling to and attending
82	82	the funeral of another victim of the criminally injurious conduct.
83	83	SECTION 4. Section 552.132(c), Government Code, is amended
84	84	to read as follows:
85	85	(c) If the crime victim or claimant is awarded compensation
86	86	under Article 56B.103 or 56B.104, Code of Criminal Procedure, as of
87	87	the date of the award of compensation, [the name of the crime victim
88	88	or claimant and] the amount of compensation awarded to that crime
89	89	victim or claimant is [are] public information and is [are] not
90	90	excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.
91	91	SECTION 5. Article 56B.102(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
92	92	is repealed.
93	93	SECTION 6. Chapter 56B, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
94	94	amended by this Act, applies only to compensation for criminally
95	95	injurious conduct occurring on or after the effective date of this
96	96	Act. Compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring
97	97	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
98	98	effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is
99	99	continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
100	100	criminally injurious conduct occurred before the effective date of
101	101	this Act if any element of the offense underlying the conduct
102	102	occurred before that date.
103	103	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
104	104	* * * * *