Some wrongly imprisoned people would no longer be eligible for state compensation.
What it does
The bill would narrow who can file for compensation after serving time in Texas prison for a crime they did not commit. A person could still qualify with a full pardon for innocence or a writ of habeas corpus based on a court finding that the person is actually innocent, but the bill would remove the third route, which covered people whose charge was dismissed after a prosecutor stated that no credible evidence pointed to them and that the person was actually innocent. It would also remove the separate three-year filing deadline that ran from the date of those dismissal orders. The change would take effect September 1, 2027, and the new eligibility rules would apply only to payments and benefits, including annuity payments and health benefits, made on or after that date.
What it means for your community
For someone who was released after a court dismissed the charge and a prosecutor said the evidence did not point to them, this would end the path to compensation that the dismissal provided. The bill does not change who can file after a pardon for innocence or after a habeas ruling of actual innocence, and the three-year filing deadline for those claims would stay in place. Because the new rules apply only to payments and benefits made on or after September 1, 2027, they would not change compensation already paid out.
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