The multimillion-dollar state fund that compensates crime victims is on track to run out of money next year, officials said Wednesday. During a public hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, officials who oversee the Crime Victim Compensation Fund said it faces a "serious shortfall" in September 2013 because of declining revenue and will be unable to pay for services to victims.
Created in 1979, the account reimburses violent crime victims for expenses not covered by insurance or restitution. It has been funded mainly through fines and court fees paid by lawbreakers across Texas — and reached its high point in 2005, when crime victims were paid $85 million, state reports show. "Short-term stability and long-term viability are at risk now," First Assistant Attorney General Daniel Hodge told the panel. "We are facing a situation where we will at some point have victim reimbursements that we won't be able to fund."
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