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  H.B. No. 814
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to certain payments to or on behalf of persons wrongfully
  imprisoned.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 103.051(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  To apply for compensation under this subchapter, the
  claimant must file with the comptroller's judiciary section:
               (1)  an application for compensation provided for that
  purpose by the comptroller;
               (2)  a verified copy of the pardon or court order
  justifying the application for compensation;
               (3)  a statement provided by the Texas Department of
  Criminal Justice verifying the length of incarceration; [and]
               (4)  a certification of the claimant's actual innocence
  of the crime for which the claimant was sentenced that is signed by
  the attorney representing the state in the prosecution of felonies
  in the county in which the sentence was rendered; and
               (5)  if the claimant is applying for compensation under
  Section 103.052(a)(2), a certified copy of each child support order
  under which child support payments became due during the time the
  claimant served in prison and copies of the official child support
  payment records described by Section 234.009, Family Code, for that
  period.
         SECTION 2.  Section 103.052, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding
  Subsections (a-1) and (d) to read as follows:
         (a)  A person who meets the requirements of Section 103.001
  is entitled to compensation in an amount equal to:
               (1)  $50,000 [$25,000] multiplied by the number of
  years served in prison, expressed as a fraction to reflect partial
  years; and[, if the time served is less than 20 years; or]
               (2)  compensation for child support payments owed by
  the person that became due and interest on child support arrearages
  that accrued during the time served in prison but were not paid 
  [$500,000 if the time served is 20 years or more].
         (a-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), a person sentenced
  to death who meets the requirements of Section 103.001 is entitled
  to compensation in an amount equal to $100,000 multiplied by the
  number of years served in prison, expressed as a fraction to reflect
  partial years.
         (b)  A person who is owed an amount of compensation under
  Subsection (a)(1) or (a-1) equal to or greater than $50,000 shall be
  paid that compensation in two equal annual installments.
         (d)  The amount of compensation under Subsection (a)(2) to
  which a person is entitled shall be paid on the person's behalf in a
  lump-sum payment to the state disbursement unit, as defined by
  Section 101.0302, Family Code, for distribution to the obligee
  under the child support order.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 103, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 103.1041 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 103.1041.  REQUIRED EVIDENCE. A claimant who brings a
  suit under this subchapter for compensation under Section
  103.052(a)(2) must submit to the court as evidence a certified copy
  of each child support order under which child support payments
  became due during the time the claimant served in prison and copies
  of the official child support payment records described by Section
  234.009, Family Code, for that period.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 103.105(a) and (c), Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If the trier of fact finds that the petitioner is
  entitled to compensation, the petitioner is entitled to:
               (1)  expenses incurred by the petitioner in connection
  with all associated criminal proceedings and appeals and in
  connection with obtaining the petitioner's discharge from
  imprisonment, including any fine or court costs paid and reasonable
  attorney's fees, including reasonable attorney's fees for
  prosecuting the lawsuit under this subchapter;
               (2)  wages, salary, or other earned income that was
  lost as a direct result of the arrest, prosecution, conviction, or
  wrongful imprisonment; [and]
               (3)  medical and counseling expenses incurred by the
  petitioner as a direct result of the arrest, prosecution,
  conviction, or wrongful imprisonment; and
               (4)  child support payments owed by the petitioner that
  became due and interest on child support arrearages that accrued
  during the time served in prison but were not paid.
         (c)  Excluding the amount of child support payments and
  interest on child support arrearages under Subsection (a)(4), total
  [Total] damages assessed under this subchapter may not exceed
  $500,000.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 103.151(a) and (c), Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The comptroller shall make the first installment
  payment due an applicant and the lump-sum payment, if any, to be
  paid to the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section
  101.0302, Family Code, under Subchapter B, to the extent that funds
  are available and appropriated for that purpose, not later than the
  30th day after the date the comptroller grants the application.
         (c)  If appropriated funds are insufficient to pay the amount
  due an applicant and the amount to be paid to the state disbursement
  unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code, money shall be
  paid under the procedure described by Section 103.152.
         SECTION 6.  Section 103.152, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 103.152.  PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION. (a) Not later than
  November 1 of each even-numbered year, the comptroller shall
  provide a list of claimants entitled to payment under Subchapter B
  or C and the amounts due for each claimant to the governor, the
  lieutenant governor, and the chair of the appropriate committee in
  each house of the legislature so that the legislature may
  appropriate the amount needed to pay the amount owed to each
  claimant and the amount to be paid to the state disbursement unit,
  as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code, on the claimant's
  behalf [the amount owed].
         (b)  Not later than September 1 of the year in which an
  appropriation under this chapter has been made by the legislature,
  the comptroller shall pay the required amount to each claimant and
  the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family
  Code.
         (c)  The amount of compensation awarded under Section
  103.105(a)(4) must be paid on the claimant's behalf in a lump-sum
  payment to the state disbursement unit, as defined by Section
  101.0302, Family Code, for distribution to the obligee under the
  child support order.
         SECTION 7.  Section 103.154, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 103.154.  TERMINATION OF PAYMENTS. (a) Except as
  provided by Subsection (c), compensation [Compensation] payments
  to a person under this chapter terminate if, after the date the
  person becomes eligible for compensation under Section 103.001, the
  person is convicted of a crime punishable as a felony. Compensation
  payments terminate under this subsection on the date of the
  subsequent conviction.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), compensation
  [Compensation] payments to a person under this chapter terminate on
  the date of the person's death. Any payments scheduled to be paid
  after that date are credited to the state and may not be paid to any
  other person, including the person's surviving spouse, heirs,
  devisees, or beneficiaries under the person's will, or to the
  person's estate.
         (c)  This section does not apply to compensation for child
  support payments and interest on child support arrearages to be
  paid on a person's behalf under this chapter to the state
  disbursement unit, as defined by Section 101.0302, Family Code.
         SECTION 8.  Section 103.105(c), Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 9.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
  section, the changes in law made by this Act apply to an action or
  application for compensation under Chapter 103, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, as amended by this Act, that is pending or commenced
  on or after the effective date of this Act.
         (b)  Sections 103.052(a)(1) and (a-1), Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, as amended and added, respectively, by this Act,
  apply to an administrative proceeding for compensation for wrongful
  imprisonment for which the application is filed on or after the
  effective date of this Act. An application filed before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date of the filing, and that law is continued in effect for that
  purpose.
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 814 was passed by the House on April
  26, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 136, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 814 on May 25, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 135, Nays 6, 2
  present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 814 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 23, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
  2.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor