By: Metcalf H.B. No. 3636
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. Article 42.037, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (y) to read as follows:
(y) If a victim who is entitled to restitution does not make
a claim for payment before the third anniversary of the date the
clerk of the court receives the initial restitution payment or if,
after the victim makes a claim for payment, the clerk is unable to
locate the victim for a period of three years after the date the
clerk last made a payment to the victim, any unclaimed restitution
payments being held by the clerk for payment to the victim shall be
transferred to the compensation to victims of crimes fund.
SECTION 2. Section 493.035, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
(e) If the department transfers a restitution payment to a
county, the department shall include the last known address of the
victim.
(f) The department transferring a restitution payment to
the clerk shall include a history of past payments made to the
victim by the department to include the following:
(1) the date each payment was made;
(2) the amount of each payment;
(3) the address each payment was sent to; and
(4) the ending balance of payments made to the victim
during the departments collection period.
(g) Information provided to a clerk of the court under
Subsections (e) and (f) is confidential and not subject to public
disclosure under Chapter 552.
SECTION 3. Sections 508.322, Government Code, are amended
by amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsection (c-3) 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, a payment history described
by 493.035(f), and the last known address of the victim to the clerk
of the court that entered the order of restitution as soon as
practicable for the clerk to remit the payment to the victim.
(c-3) Information provided to a clerk of the court under
Subsection (c)(3) is confidential and not subject to public
disclosure under Chapter 552.
(e) If a victim who is entitled to restitution does not make
a claim for payment before the third [fifth] anniversary of the date
the clerk of the court receives the initial restitution payment or
if, after the victim makes a claim for payment, the clerk is unable
to locate the victim for a period of three [five] years after the
date the clerk last made a payment to the victim, any unclaimed
restitution payments being held by the clerk for payment to the
victim shall be transferred to the compensation to victims of
crimes fund [are presumed abandoned. The clerk of the court 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].
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.