HBA-JEK C.S.H.B. 1616 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1616
By: Allen
Corrections
4/3/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law does not prohibit a Texas inmate from receiving crime victims'
compensation payments while incarcerated, even though the state provides
for the immediate needs of imprisoned individuals under the criminal
justice system.  C.S.H.B. 1616 prohibits an incarcerated person from
receiving crime victims' compensation payments. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1616 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit a person
convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment in the institutional
division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) who was
eligible for an receiving compensation as a victim or claimant on the date
the person began serving the sentence from receiving any crime victims'
compensation until the date on which the person discharges the sentence or
is released on parole or mandatory supervision.  
  
The bill requires a court that sentences a person to imprisonment in the
institutional division of TDCJ to inform the person at the time of sentence
of the consequence of the sentence as it relates to the person's
eligibility to receive crime victims' compensation payments. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1616 differs from the original bill by prohibiting a person
sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the institutional division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice  from receiving crime victims'
compensation payments rather than any loan, grant, pension, salary, or
other payment from the state.  The substitute prohibits a person from
receiving crime victims' compensation until the date on which the person
discharges the sentence or is released on parole or mandatory supervision.
The substitute does not provide an exemption for an inmate in a prison
industries program, an inmate who receives a pension that vested before the
date the person is finally convicted, or an inmate who receives a payment
in satisfaction of wages earned or a contract performed before the date the
person is finally convicted.