Bill Text: TX SB146 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to compensation to victims of stalking for relocation and housing rental expenses.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-01-27 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB146 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-SB146-Introduced.html

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84R531 MAW-D
By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 146

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to compensation to victims of stalking for relocation and
housing rental expenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 56.32(a)(9), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(9) "Pecuniary loss" means the amount of 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 resulting from the personal
injury; or
(iii) participation in or attendance at
investigative, prosecutorial, or judicial processes related to the
criminally injurious conduct and participation in or attendance at
any postconviction or postadjudication proceeding relating to
criminally injurious conduct;
(C) care of a child or dependent;
(D) funeral and burial expenses, including, for
an immediate family member or 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 56.41(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 Article 56.42(d)[, incurred by a victim of family violence or a
victim of sexual assault who is assaulted in the victim's place of
residence for relocation and housing rental assistance payments];
(I) for an immediate family member or 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 for the purpose of witnessing the
execution, including one night's lodging near the place at which
the execution is conducted.
SECTION 2. Article 56.42(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A victim who is a victim of stalking, family violence,
or [a victim of] trafficking of persons, or a victim of sexual
assault who is assaulted in the victim's place of residence, may
receive a onetime-only assistance payment in an amount not to
exceed:
(1) $2,000 to be used for relocation expenses,
including expenses for rental deposit, utility connections,
expenses relating to the moving of belongings, motor vehicle
mileage expenses, and for out-of-state moves, transportation,
lodging, and meals; and
(2) $1,800 to be used for housing rental expenses.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a victim of a criminal offense committed or a violation that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The victim of a
criminal offense committed or a violation that occurs before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the offense was committed or the violation occurred, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, a criminal offense was committed or a violation
occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the
offense or violation occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.