Texas sets disaster donation rules and penalties for fraudulent solicitations

The secretary of state would run a program for political subdivisions to approve a nonprofit organization or financial institution for disaster relief donations. The program covers political subdivisions in Texas and declared disasters threatening those subdivisions. Each political subdivision would select and submit an organization or financial institution for approval. The secretary of state would create approval guidelines. Organizations and financial institutions would not have to receive a designation to solicit or accept disaster donations. The secretary of state would adopt implementation rules as soon as practicable after the Act takes effect, and designations would apply during a declared disaster threatening the political subdivision.

A person would commit a felony by intentionally using disaster-related claims to defraud or harm someone while soliciting donations or payments. The offenses cover disaster donations, payments from disaster victims for supposedly free services, claims about finding missing relatives, and theft by a person acting as a disaster volunteer. First offenses involving donations or supposedly free services would be third-degree felonies; later offenses would be second-degree felonies. The offense would become a first-degree felony if the person fabricated an official designation or charged a victim while claiming to find a missing relative. The theft rule would apply when property worth less than $30,000 was taken in a disaster area through the actor's actual or claimed volunteer status. The amended theft penalties apply only to offenses committed on or after the Act's effective date; an offense with any element before that date remains governed by the earlier law.

A person who engages in the defined malicious solicitation would be liable to the affected donor, donee, or their estate. The claim covers fraudulent disaster-related solicitation that meets the criminal definition, including money collected for a donee or from a donor. A successful donee or donor could receive three times the donations collected or solicited, plus reasonable and necessary attorney's fees. The provision does not prevent a separate claim for exemplary damages. These civil rules apply only to a legal claim that arises on or after the Act's effective date.