Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB49 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	S.B. No. 49
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to crime victims' compensation.
6	6	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	7	SECTION 1. Articles 56B.003(2), (6), (7), and (10), Code of
8	8	Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
9	9	(2) "Claimant" means any of the following individuals,
10	10	other than a service provider, who is entitled to file or has filed
11	11	a claim for compensation under this chapter:
12	12	(A) an authorized individual acting on behalf of
13	13	a victim;
14	14	(B) an individual who legally assumes the
15	15	obligation or who voluntarily pays medical or burial expenses of a
16	16	victim incurred as a result of the criminally injurious conduct of
17	17	another;
18	18	(C) a dependent of a victim who died as a result
19	19	of the criminally injurious conduct;
20	20	(D) a [an immediate] family member or [a]
21	21	household member of a victim who, as a result of the criminally
22	22	injurious conduct:
23	23	(i) requires psychiatric care or
24	24	counseling;
25	25	(ii) incurs expenses for traveling to and
26	26	attending a deceased victim's funeral; or
27	27	(iii) suffers wage loss from bereavement
28	28	leave taken in connection with the death of the victim; or
29	29	(E) an authorized individual acting on behalf of
30	30	a child described by Paragraph (C) or (D).
31	31	(6) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by
32	32	Section 71.004 [71.004(1)], Family Code.
33	33	(7) "Household member" means an individual who[:
34	34	[(A) is related by consanguinity or affinity to
35	35	the victim; and
36	36	[(B)] resided in the same permanent household as
37	37	the victim at the time that the criminally injurious conduct
38	38	occurred.
39	39	(10) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of the expense
40	40	reasonably and necessarily incurred as a result of personal injury
41	41	or death for:
42	42	(A) medical, hospital, nursing, or psychiatric
43	43	care or counseling, or physical therapy;
44	44	(B) actual loss of past earnings and anticipated
45	45	loss of future earnings and necessary travel expenses because of:
46	46	(i) a disability resulting from the
47	47	personal injury;
48	48	(ii) the receipt of medically indicated
49	49	services related to the disability; or
50	50	(iii) participation in or attendance at
51	51	investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes or any
52	52	postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to
53	53	criminally injurious conduct;
54	54	(C) care of a child or dependent, including
55	55	specialized care for a child who is a victim;
56	56	(D) funeral and burial expenses, including, for a
57	57	[an immediate] family member or [a] household member of the victim,
58	58	the necessary expenses of traveling to and attending the funeral;
59	59	(E) loss of support to a dependent, consistent
60	60	with Article 56B.057(b)(5);
61	61	(F) reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning
62	62	the crime scene;
63	63	(G) reasonable replacement costs for clothing,
64	64	bedding, or property of the victim seized as evidence or rendered
65	65	unusable as a result of the criminal investigation;
66	66	(H) reasonable and necessary costs for
67	67	relocation and housing rental assistance payments as provided by
68	68	Articles [Article] 56B.106(c) and (c-1);
69	69	(I) for a [an immediate] family member or [a]
70	70	household member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave [of not
71	71	more than 10 work days]; and
72	72	(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling
73	73	to and from a place of execution to witness the execution, including
74	74	[one night's] lodging near the place where the execution is
75	75	conducted.
76	76	SECTION 2. Subdivision (8), Article 56B.003, Code of
77	77	Criminal Procedure, is redesignated as Subdivision (5-a), Article
78	78	56B.003, Code of Criminal Procedure, and amended to read as
79	79	follows:
80	80	(5-a) "Family [(8) "Immediate family] member" means an
81	81	individual who is related to a victim [within the second degree] by
82	82	consanguinity or affinity.
83	83	SECTION 3. Article 56B.057(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
84	84	is amended to read as follows:
85	85	(d) Except as provided by rules adopted by the attorney
86	86	general to prevent the unjust enrichment of an offender, the
87	87	attorney general may not deny an award otherwise payable to a
88	88	claimant or victim because the claimant or victim:
89	89	(1) is a [an immediate] family member of the offender;
90	90	or
91	91	(2) resides in the same household as the offender.
92	92	SECTION 4. Article 56B.106, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
93	93	amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections
94	94	(c-1), (c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows:
95	95	(c) A victim of stalking, family violence, or trafficking of
96	96	persons, a victim of sexual assault who is assaulted in the victim's
97	97	place of residence, or a child who is a victim of a murder attempt in
98	98	the child's place of residence may receive compensation for the
99	99	following expenses [a one-time assistance payment in an amount not
100	100	to exceed]:
101	101	(1) [$2,000 to be used for] relocation expenses,
102	102	including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections,
103	103	expenses relating to moving belongings, motor vehicle mileage
104	104	expenses, temporary or emergency lodging, and for an out-of-state
105	105	move, expenses for transportation, lodging, and meals; and
106	106	(2) [$1,800 to be used for] housing rental expenses.
107	107	(c-1) A victim other than a victim described by Subsection
108	108	(c), a dependent of any victim, a family member of any victim if
109	109	that family member has previously resided with the victim for a
110	110	period of not less than two years, or a household member of any
111	111	victim may receive compensation for the following expenses, if the
112	112	expenses are necessary to protect the health or safety of the
113	113	victim, dependent, or family or household member:
114	114	(1) relocation expenses, including expenses for
115	115	rental deposit, utility connections, expenses relating to moving
116	116	belongings, motor vehicle mileage expenses, temporary or emergency
117	117	lodging, and for an out-of-state move, expenses for transportation,
118	118	lodging, and meals; and
119	119	(2) housing rental expenses.
120	120	(c-2) Unless the attorney general determines that there is
121	121	an extraordinary health or safety need for compensation to be made
122	122	to more than two households, the attorney general may, for each
123	123	application based on criminally injurious conduct giving rise to
124	124	the need for relocation or housing rental expenses, award
125	125	compensation for relocation or housing rental expenses under
126	126	Subsection (c) or (c-1) to the households of no more than:
127	127	(1) one victim and one claimant; or
128	128	(2) two claimants, if the victim is deceased.
129	129	(c-3) A victim or claimant may not receive more than $5,000
130	130	in the aggregate for relocation expenses and housing rental
131	131	expenses under Subsection (c) or (c-1).
132	132	(d) A [An immediate] family member or household member of a
133	133	deceased victim may not receive more than $3,333 [$1,000] in lost
134	134	wages as a result of bereavement leave taken by the family or
135	135	household member.
136	136	SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
137	137	to compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring on or
138	138	after the effective date of this Act. Compensation for criminally
139	139	injurious conduct occurring before the effective date of this Act
140	140	is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred,
141	141	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
142	142	purposes of this section, criminally injurious conduct occurred
143	143	before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
144	144	underlying the conduct occurred before that date.
145	145	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
146	146	______________________________ ______________________________
147	147	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
148	148	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 49 passed the Senate on
149	149	April 17, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
150	150	______________________________
151	151	Secretary of the Senate
152	152	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 49 passed the House on
153	153	May 4, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 110, Nays 36, one
154	154	present not voting.
155	155	______________________________
156	156	Chief Clerk of the House
157	157	Approved:
158	158	______________________________
159	159	Date
160	160	______________________________
161	161	Governor