By: Anderson, Murr (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 3603
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2023;
May 15, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
WhitmireX
FloresX
BettencourtX
HinojosaX
HuffmanX
KingX
MilesX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the payment of restitution by a person released on
parole or to mandatory supervision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 508.322, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) and adding Subsections
(c-1) and (c-2) to read as follows:
(c) When a parole panel orders the payment of restitution
from a releasee as provided by Article 42.037(h), Code of Criminal
Procedure, the department shall:
(1) collect the payment for disbursement to the
victim;
(2) deposit the payment in the releasee restitution
fund; and
(3) transmit the payment to the clerk of the court that
entered the order of restitution [to the victim] as soon as
practicable for the clerk to remit the payment to the victim.
(c-1) The department shall include the releasee's name and
other relevant identifying information, the cause number, and the
payment amount when transmitting a payment to the clerk of the court
under Subsection (c)(3).
(c-2) On receipt of a payment transmitted to the clerk of
the court under Subsection (c)(3), the clerk shall process and
account for the payment in the same manner as if the payment had
been made directly to the clerk.
(d) If a victim who is entitled to restitution cannot be
located, immediately after receiving a final payment in
satisfaction of an order of restitution for the victim, the clerk of
the court [department] shall attempt to notify the victim of that
fact by certified mail, mailed to the last known address of the
victim. If a victim then makes a claim for payment, the clerk of
the court [department] promptly shall remit the payment to the
victim.
(e) If a victim who is entitled to restitution does not make
a claim for payment before the fifth anniversary of the date the
clerk of the court [department] receives the initial restitution
payment or if, after the victim makes a claim for payment, the clerk
[department] is unable to locate the victim for a period of five
years after the date the clerk [department] last made a payment to
the victim, any unclaimed restitution payments being held by the
clerk [department] for payment to the victim are presumed
abandoned. The clerk of the court [department] shall report and
deliver to the comptroller all unclaimed restitution payments
presumed abandoned under this section in the manner provided by
Chapter 77, Property Code.
(f) If on March 1 a clerk of the court [department] is not
holding unclaimed restitution payments that are presumed abandoned
under this section, the clerk [department] shall file a property
report under Section 77.051, Property Code, that certifies that the
clerk [department] is not holding any unclaimed restitution
payments that are presumed abandoned under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect December 1, 2023.
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