Art. 56.46. REPORTING OF CRIME    


(a) Except as otherwise provided by this article, a claimant or victim may not file an application unless the victim reports the criminally injurious conduct to the appropriate state or local public safety or law enforcement agency within a reasonable period of time, but not so late as to interfere with or hamper the investigation and prosecution of the crime after the criminally injurious conduct is committed.

(b) The attorney general may extend the time for reporting the criminally injurious conduct if the attorney general determines that the extension is justified by extraordinary circumstances.

(c) Subsection (a) does not apply if the victim is a child.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.84(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 779, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1434, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.