HBA-SEP H.B. 131 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 131 By: Deshotel Criminal Jurisprudence 7/18/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, a law enforcement agency (agency) that requested a medical examination of a victim of an alleged sexual assault for use in the investigation or prosecution of the offense was required to pay all costs of the examination. This examination can be costly and while there are avenues for agencies in larger metropolitan areas regarding allocation of examination costs, agencies in less populous areas may have been at a disadvantage. A sexual assault victim should not be dependent on an agency budget but because of the examination costs some of these agencies may have been reluctant to refer victims. House Bill 131 entitles a law enforcement agency to be reimbursed for the reasonable costs of a medical examination of a victim of an alleged sexual assault if that information is to be used in the investigation or prosecution of the offense. 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 House Bill 131 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to entitle, upon application to the attorney general, a law enforcement agency to be reimbursed for the reasonable costs of a medical examination of a victim of an alleged sexual assault if the examination was performed by a physician or by a sexual assault examiner or sexual assault nurse examiner and if that information is to be used in the investigation or prosecution of the offense. The bill also authorizes the attorney general to use the compensation to victims of crime fund to reimburse a law enforcement agency for the incurred costs. EFFECTIVE DATE June 17, 2001.