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