Art. 42.0373. MANDATORY RESTITUTION FOR CHILD WITNESS OF FAMILY VIOLENCE. (a) If after a conviction or a grant of deferred adjudication a court places a defendant on community supervision for an offense involving family violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code, the court shall determine from the complaint, information, indictment, or other charging instrument, the presentence report, or other evidence before the court whether:
(1) the offense was committed in the physical presence of, or in the same habitation or vehicle occupied by, a person younger than 15 years of age; and
(2) at the time of the offense, the defendant had knowledge or reason to know that the person younger than 15 years of age was physically present or occupied the same habitation or vehicle.
(b) If the court determines both issues described by Subsection (a) in the affirmative, the court shall order the defendant to pay restitution in an amount equal to the cost of necessary rehabilitation, including medical, psychiatric, and psychological care and treatment, for a person described by Subsection (a)(1).
(c) The court shall, after considering the financial circumstances of the defendant, specify in a restitution order issued under Subsection (b) the manner in which the defendant must pay the restitution. The order must require restitution payments to be delivered in the manner described by Article 42.037(g)(4)(iii).
(d) A restitution order issued under Subsection (b) may be enforced by the state, or by a person or a parent or guardian of the person named in the order to receive the restitution, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.
(e) The court may hold a hearing, make findings of fact, and amend a restitution order issued under Subsection (b) if the defendant fails to pay the person named in the order in the manner specified by the court.
(f) A determination under this article may not be entered as an affirmative finding in the judgment for the offense for which the defendant was placed on community supervision.
Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1061 (H.B. 2159), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2015.
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