HBA-NMO S.B. 1734 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1734
By: Ratliff
Criminal Jurisprudence
5/6/1999
Engrossed


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law provides that the maximum amount of money available from the
Crime Victims Compensation Fund to a victim of a crime or the dependents of
a victim is $50,000.  However, this limit applies only to a crime committed
on or after September 1, 1997.  S.B. 1734 allows the attorney general to
extend benefits up to $50,000 to dependents of a crime victim if they filed
an application for compensation and the application was approved prior to
September 1, 1997. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Provides that Article 56.42(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by and notwithstanding Section 2, Chapter 1434, Acts of the 75th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, applies to an application for
compensation for criminally injurious conduct (injury) occurring before the
effective date of that Act (September 1, 1997) if the application was filed
by or on behalf of a dependant of a victim who died as a result of injury,
was filed in a timely manner, and was approved by the attorney general
before the effective date of that Act.  Article 56.42(a) provides that
awards payable to a victim and all other claimants sustaining pecuniary
loss because of injury or death of that victim may not exceed $50,000 in
the aggregate. 

SECTION 2.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.