Bill Text: TX HB250 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to crime victims' compensation.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-03 - Laid on the table subject to call [HB250 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB250-Comm_Sub.html
88R15317 CJD-F | |||
By: González of El Paso, Goldman, Cook, | H.B. No. 250 | ||
Collier, et al. | |||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 250: | |||
By: Dutton | C.S.H.B. No. 250 |
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relating to crime victims' compensation. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Articles 56B.003(2), (6), (7), and (10), Code of | ||
Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(2) "Claimant" means any of the following individuals, | ||
other than a service provider, who is entitled to file or has filed | ||
a claim for compensation under this chapter: | ||
(A) an authorized individual acting on behalf of | ||
a victim; | ||
(B) an individual who legally assumes the | ||
obligation or who voluntarily pays medical or burial expenses of a | ||
victim incurred as a result of the criminally injurious conduct of | ||
another; | ||
(C) a dependent of a victim who died as a result | ||
of the criminally injurious conduct; | ||
(D) a [ |
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household member of a victim who, as a result of the criminally | ||
injurious conduct: | ||
(i) requires psychiatric care or | ||
counseling; | ||
(ii) incurs expenses for traveling to and | ||
attending a deceased victim's funeral; or | ||
(iii) suffers wage loss from bereavement | ||
leave taken in connection with the death of the victim; or | ||
(E) an authorized individual acting on behalf of | ||
a child described by Paragraph (C) or (D). | ||
(6) "Family violence" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 71.004 [ |
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(7) "Household member" means an individual who[ |
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[ |
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[ |
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the victim at the time that the criminally injurious conduct | ||
occurred. | ||
(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 a | ||
[ |
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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 as provided by | ||
Articles [ |
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(I) for a [ |
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household member of a deceased victim, bereavement leave [ |
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(J) reasonable and necessary costs of traveling | ||
to and from a place of execution to witness the execution, including | ||
[ |
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conducted. | ||
SECTION 2. Subdivision (8), Article 56B.003, Code of | ||
Criminal Procedure, is redesignated as Subdivision (5-a), Article | ||
56B.003, Code of Criminal Procedure, and amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(5-a) "Family [ |
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individual who is related to a victim [ |
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consanguinity or affinity. | ||
SECTION 3. Article 56B.057(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, | ||
is amended to read as follows: | ||
(d) Except as provided by rules adopted by the attorney | ||
general to prevent the unjust enrichment of an offender, the | ||
attorney general may not deny an award otherwise payable to a | ||
claimant or victim because the claimant or victim: | ||
(1) is a [ |
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or | ||
(2) resides in the same household as the offender. | ||
SECTION 4. Article 56B.106, Code of Criminal Procedure, is | ||
amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections | ||
(c-1), (c-2), and (c-3) to read as follows: | ||
(c) A victim of stalking, family violence, or trafficking of | ||
persons, a victim of sexual assault who is assaulted in the victim's | ||
place of residence, or a child who is a victim of a murder attempt in | ||
the child's place of residence may receive compensation for the | ||
following [ |
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(1) [ |
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including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections, | ||
expenses relating to moving belongings, motor vehicle mileage | ||
expenses, temporary or emergency lodging, and for an out-of-state | ||
move, expenses for transportation, lodging, and meals; and | ||
(2) [ |
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(c-1) A victim other than a victim described by Subsection | ||
(c), a dependent of any victim, or a family member or household | ||
member of any victim may receive compensation for the following: | ||
(1) relocation expenses, including expenses for | ||
rental deposit, utility connections, expenses relating to moving | ||
belongings, motor vehicle mileage expenses, temporary or emergency | ||
lodging, and for an out-of-state move, expenses for transportation, | ||
lodging, and meals; and | ||
(2) housing rental expenses. | ||
(c-2) Unless the attorney general determines that there is | ||
an extraordinary health or safety need for compensation to be made | ||
to more than two households, the attorney general may, for each | ||
application based on criminally injurious conduct giving rise to | ||
the need for relocation or housing rental expenses, award | ||
compensation for relocation or housing rental expenses under | ||
Subsection (c) or (c-1) to the households of no more than: | ||
(1) one victim and one claimant; or | ||
(2) two claimants, if the victim is deceased. | ||
(c-3) The attorney general by rule may establish a | ||
limitation on the amount of an award a victim or claimant may | ||
receive under Subsection (c) or (c-1), except that the limitation | ||
for: | ||
(1) relocation expenses as provided by Subsection | ||
(c)(1) or (c-1)(1) may not be less than $2,000; and | ||
(2) housing rental expenses as provided by Subsection | ||
(c)(2) or (c-1)(2) may not be less than $1,800. | ||
(d) The attorney general by rule may establish a limitation | ||
on an award a [ |
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deceased victim may [ |
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wages as a result of bereavement leave taken by the family or | ||
household member, except that the limit may not be less than the | ||
lesser of: | ||
(1) $1,000; or | ||
(2) an amount equal to 10 work days of lost wages. | ||
SECTION 5. The change in law made 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. |