By: Gutierrez S.B. No. 2298
 
 
 
   
 
 
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.