Sec. 508.322.  RELEASEE RESTITUTION FUND.  (a)  The releasee restitution fund is a fund outside the treasury and consists of restitution payments made by releasees.  Money in the fund may be used only to pay restitution as required by a condition of parole or mandatory supervision to victims of criminal offenses.
(b)  The comptroller is the trustee of the releasee restitution fund as provided by Section 404.073.
(c)  When a parole panel orders the payment of restitution from a releasee as provided by Article 42.037(h), Code of Criminal Procedure, the department shall:
(1)  collect the payment for disbursement to the victim;
(2)  deposit the payment in the releasee restitution fund; and
(3)  transmit the payment to the clerk of the court that entered the order of restitution as soon as practicable for the clerk to remit the payment to the victim.
(c-1)  The department shall include the releasee's name and other relevant identifying information, the cause number, and the payment amount when transmitting a payment to the clerk of the court under Subsection (c)(3).
(c-2)  On receipt of a payment transmitted to the clerk of the court under Subsection (c)(3), the clerk shall process and account for the payment in the same manner as if the payment had been made directly to the clerk.
(d)  If a victim who is entitled to restitution cannot be located, immediately after receiving a final payment in satisfaction of an order of restitution for the victim, the clerk of the court shall attempt to notify the victim of that fact by certified mail, mailed to the last known address of the victim.  If a victim then makes a claim for payment, the clerk of the court promptly shall remit the payment to the victim.
(e)  If a victim who is entitled to restitution does not make a claim for payment before the fifth anniversary of the date the clerk of the court receives the initial restitution payment or if, after the victim makes a claim for payment, the clerk is unable to locate the victim for a period of five years after the date the clerk last made a payment to the victim, any unclaimed restitution payments being held by the clerk for payment to the victim are presumed abandoned.  The clerk of the court shall report and deliver to the comptroller all unclaimed restitution payments presumed abandoned under this section in the manner provided by Chapter 77, Property Code.
(f)  If on March 1 a clerk of the court is not holding unclaimed restitution payments that are presumed abandoned under this section, the clerk shall file a property report under Section 77.051, Property Code, that certifies that the clerk is not holding any unclaimed restitution payments that are presumed abandoned under this section.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 12.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.  Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 856, Sec. 9, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by: 
Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 351 (H.B. 1866), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2017.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 864 (H.B. 3603), Sec. 1, eff. December 1, 2023.