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Most survivors never hear about this, and most of the people helping them are working from figures that changed years ago.
Texas runs a compensation fund for crime victims, administered by the Attorney General under Chapter 56B of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It pays for real things: counseling, lost wages, relocation, medical care, child care. It is separate from any civil case, and it does not require anyone to be arrested, charged or convicted.
A civil claim is a different thing, and what a civil claim needs is evidence. Most of it is not yours: it sits in the records of the business, building or institution where it happened, and those records are on an automatic timer. See what evidence actually matters, and what disappears.
Here is what the program covers, and where the commonly repeated version is wrong.
There is nothing in Chapter 56B conditioning an award on an arrest, a prosecution or a conviction. The Attorney General decides by a preponderance of the evidence that the requirements are met. That is a civil standard, not a criminal one.
For a survivor who has been told the case will not be prosecuted, this is the single most important thing on this page.
Article 56B.053 requires that the survivor report the conduct to a state or local law enforcement agency “within a reasonable period, but not so late as to interfere with or hamper the investigation and prosecution of the offense after the criminally injurious conduct is committed.”
There is no fixed number of hours or days anywhere in the statute. Any source telling a survivor they had 72 hours, or 96 hours, or five days, is stating a rule that does not exist.
The Attorney General may extend the reporting time where extraordinary circumstances justify it. The reporting requirement does not apply at all if the victim is a child.
And a survivor who obtains a sexual assault forensic examination has cooperated as a matter of law. Article 56B.107(d) provides that receiving a forensic medical examination constitutes sufficient evidence of substantial cooperation with an investigation. Article 56B.107(c) separately bars the Attorney General from denying or reducing an award based on the survivor’s interactions with law enforcement at the crime scene or the hospital.
That provision exists because survivors freeze, decline to give a full statement that night, and leave the emergency room. The law accounts for it.
Three years from the date of the conduct, under Article 56B.052. The Attorney General may extend it for good cause shown.
Three variations matter:
A child victim has three years from the date the claimant or victim is made aware of the offense, but not after the child turns 21.
Where medically documented physical or mental incapacity resulting from the conduct reasonably prevented a timely filing, the period of incapacity does not count against the three years.
In a homicide case, the three years run from the date law enforcement establishes the victim’s identity.
This distinction produces more unexpected bills than anything else in the system, and it is worth being precise about.
The forensic portion of a sexual assault medical examination, and the evidence collection kit, are free to the survivor. Article 56A.304(f) states that a victim of sexual assault may not be required to pay for either. The Attorney General reimburses the provider directly. This is true whether or not the survivor reports to law enforcement.
The medical portion, meaning treatment of injuries, medication and testing, is a separate cost. It is reimbursable through the Emergency Medical Care track rather than free at the point of service, which is why a survivor can leave an emergency room having paid nothing for the kit and still receive a bill weeks later.
Two things changed recently and both help.
For examinations on or after 1 September 2025, House Bill 47 extended coverage beyond the examination itself to the reasonable costs of other medical care provided during the examination and to prescribed continuing care related to the sexual assault for 30 days afterward, including medication and medical testing.
The Attorney General publishes a limit of up to $25,000 for emergency medical care reimbursement for sexual assault examinations after 31 August 2023. That figure comes from the Attorney General rather than from the statute. The Attorney General describes it as an additional $25,000 available on top of the $50,000 program limit. That is program policy rather than statute, and it should be confirmed with the Attorney General’s office before anyone relies on it.
If a survivor receives a bill for a forensic examination, that bill is wrong, and the provider should be directed to bill the Office of the Attorney General.
Receiving compensation does not prevent a survivor from bringing a civil claim. The two are different things: the fund pays capped, defined categories of out-of-pocket loss, and a civil claim seeks full damages from whoever was responsible.
But they are connected, and the connection has teeth.
A civil recovery is a collateral source under Article 56B.003(3)(I), and an award may be reduced to the extent the loss is recouped from it. Under Article 56B.202 the State is subrogated to the survivor’s recovery rights to the extent compensation was awarded.
There is also a procedural regime most people do not know exists. Article 56B.401 requires written notice to the Attorney General before filing a civil action related to conduct for which compensation was claimed or awarded. Article 56B.404(a) provides that the claimant may not settle or otherwise resolve the action without the Attorney General’s written authorization.
None of that is a reason to skip the compensation application. It is a reason to tell whoever handles the civil case that a compensation claim exists, early.
Applications go to the Office of the Attorney General, Crime Victim Services Division. A victim services coordinator at a police department or district attorney’s office, a hospital advocate, or a local rape crisis center will help complete one at no charge. The application is free and no lawyer is required.
The Attorney General’s Crime Victims’ Compensation pages are the authoritative source for current forms and figures: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/crime-victims/crime-victims-compensation-program
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The statutory ceiling is $50,000 in the aggregate for a victim and all claimants, under Article 56B.106(a).
Where the personal injury is catastrophic and results in a total and permanent disability, the Attorney General may award up to an additional $75,000 for extraordinary pecuniary loss. Note the conjunction: catastrophic and total and permanent. It is discretionary, and it is limited to an enumerated list including home and vehicle accessibility, job training and vocational rehabilitation, home health care, durable medical equipment and long-term medical expenses. The ceiling in a catastrophic case is therefore $125,000.
Within those ceilings, the categories and their current limits:
Counseling and psychiatric care. Sixty sessions for conduct occurring on or after 1 September 2014, generally one session per week. There is no separate dollar cap for modern crimes. If you have seen a figure of $3,000 for counseling, that limit expired more than a decade ago and is still being repeated.
Medical and hospital care. No separate cap. It runs against the $50,000 aggregate and is paid at the Texas workers’ compensation medical fee guidelines.
Lost wages. Up to $700 per week for crimes occurring after 14 July 2016.
Relocation and housing rental. Up to $5,000 for crimes after 31 August 2023, and read that carefully: it is a combined ceiling for relocation expenses and housing rental together, not $5,000 for each. Eligibility for a sexual assault survivor depends on where the assault happened. A survivor assaulted in her own residence qualifies directly under Article 56B.106(c). A survivor assaulted somewhere else comes through Article 56B.106(c-1), which requires that the expense be necessary to protect the health or safety of the victim or a family or household member.
Child and dependent care. Up to $300 per week per child or dependent, for up to 52 weeks.
Crime scene cleanup. Up to $2,250 for crimes after 14 July 2016.
Travel. No fixed cap. State mileage and per diem rates apply, generally for travel over 20 miles one way for care, court or a funeral, with lodging or per diem possible beyond 60 miles.
Funeral and burial. Up to $6,500 for crimes after 14 July 2016. Transporting the deceased more than 50 miles one way does not count against that limit.
Bereavement leave lost wages. Up to $3,333.
Tattoo removal. Up to $3,000, and only for a victim of trafficking of persons, for removal of a tattoo received as a result of force, fraud or coercion related to the offense. Added effective 1 September 2025 by Senate Bill 1804.
Emergency award. Up to $1,500, deducted from or repayable against the final award.
Two things to understand about these numbers before relying on them. Several of them are not in the statute at all. The $50,000 aggregate, the $75,000 catastrophic add-on, the $5,000 relocation ceiling, the $3,333 bereavement figure, the $3,000 tattoo removal limit and the $1,500 emergency award are statutory. The 60 counseling sessions, the $700 weekly lost wage rate, the $300 weekly dependent care rate, the $2,250 cleanup limit and the $6,500 funeral limit are set by Attorney General rule and by published program policy, and they change without any act of the Legislature. Verify current amounts at the Attorney General link above before relying on one.
Two general rules govern all of it. Expenses must be reasonably and necessarily incurred. And the fund is a payer of last resort: an award may be reduced to the extent the loss is recouped from a collateral source, including health insurance.
Because a survivor who applies to this fund and a survivor who has a civil claim are frequently the same person, and because the fund’s ceilings are low relative to what a serious case actually costs. Sixty counseling sessions and $700 a week in lost wages are real help, and they are not the same as being made whole.
If someone was assaulted at an apartment complex, a hotel, a business or in a rideshare, there may also be a claim against the property owner or company whose choices made it possible. That claim is not capped, and it is usually insured.
There is no charge to talk and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Program figures are set by the Office of the Attorney General and change; verify current amounts at the link above. This page reflects information verified on 27 August 2026.
No. The program does not require an arrest, a charge or a conviction.
No. Article 56B.053 requires a report within a reasonable period, not so late as to hamper the investigation. No fixed deadline appears in the statute, the Attorney General may extend it for extraordinary circumstances, and it does not apply at all if the victim is a child.
Three years from the conduct under Article 56B.052, extendable for good cause. A child has three years from being made aware, but not after turning 21.
It can. The State is subrogated to a recovery for pecuniary loss, the Attorney General must be notified before suit, and a claimant may not settle without written authorization. That is a drafting issue, and it is solved at the drafting stage.
