Bill Text: TX SB49 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled


Bill Title: Relating to crime victims' compensation.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-2)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-19 - Effective on 9/1/23 [SB49 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB49-Enrolled.html
 
 
  S.B. No. 49
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  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 [an immediate] family member or [a]
  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 [71.004(1)], Family Code.
               (7)  "Household member" means an individual who[:
                     [(A)  is related by consanguinity or affinity to
  the victim; and
                     [(B)]  resided in the same permanent household as
  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
  [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 as provided by
  Articles [Article] 56B.106(c) and (c-1);
                     (I)  for a [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.
         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 [(8)  "Immediate family] member" means an
  individual who is related to a victim [within the second degree] by
  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 [an immediate] family member of the offender;
  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 expenses [a one-time 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 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)  [$1,800 to be used for] housing rental expenses.
         (c-1)  A victim other than a victim described by Subsection
  (c), a dependent of any victim, a family member of any victim if
  that family member has previously resided with the victim for a
  period of not less than two years, or a household member of any
  victim may receive compensation for the following expenses, if the
  expenses are necessary to protect the health or safety of the
  victim, dependent, or family or household member:
               (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)  A victim or claimant may not receive more than $5,000
  in the aggregate for relocation expenses and housing rental
  expenses under Subsection (c) or (c-1).
         (d)  A [An immediate] family member or household member of a
  deceased victim may not receive more than $3,333 [$1,000] in lost
  wages as a result of bereavement leave taken by the family or
  household member.
         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.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 49 passed the Senate on
  April 17, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 49 passed the House on
  May 4, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 110, Nays 36, one
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor
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