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.