AB 643

This bill makes changes to the administration of financial compensation to

victims of crime. Under current law, a person who is the victim of a crime or a close

relative of a victim of a homicide may receive compensation for certain losses he or

she suffers as a result of the crime, including payment for medical treatment,

replacement of property taken as evidence, and certain economic losses, including

loss of income that occurs as a result of the crime and lost economic benefits to

dependents who had been supported financially by the victim of the crime.

Under current law, within one year after the crime occurs, the victim or the

victim's close relative may apply to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for an award if

the person reported the crime to law enforcement within five days after the crime

occurred. Current law allows DOJ to grant an award after the one-year deadline for

application has passed if the department determines it is in the interest of justice.

Under current law, DOJ may award up to $40,000 per injury or death. DOJ may

make periodic payments in the case of a death or protracted disability. Current law

also allows DOJ to provide, in cases of homicide, up to an additional $2,000 for

funeral and burial expenses.

This bill makes several changes to DOJ's victim compensation award program.

Under the bill, if a victim suffers a disability as a result of the crime, covered expenses

may include reasonable housing accessibility adaptations. The bill adds victims of

certain crimes to the list of persons eligible for compensation and increases the

funeral and burial allowance to $5,000. The bill also allows a parent of a child who

was the victim to receive compensation up to $3,000 for economic losses and for

mental health treatment.

Under the bill, DOJ will consider reimbursing crime-related expenses incurred

within four years after the crime occurred, except that if a victim was a minor child

at the time the crime occurred, he or she may receive payments for up to four years

after he or she applies for compensation. The bill allows DOJ to make periodic

payments without requiring death or a protracted disability.

The bill clarifies the method for determining the amount to compensate a

dependent for the loss of the victim's economic support. Under the bill, DOJ

multiplies the victim's annual net earnings by four and subtracts from that amount

four years' worth of federal Social Security payments the dependents are expected

to receive and any life insurance proceeds the dependents receive.

Under the bill, if the victim's losses or the relative's losses are due to certain

crimes involving a motor vehicle and the victim did not carry the minimum insurance

required by law, the bill allows DOJ to reduce the amount it pays by the amount the

victim would have received in insurance proceeds if he or she had carried the

mandatory insurance.