Senate Study Bill 3038 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ZAUN) A BILL FOR An Act concerning payments under the crime victim compensation 1 program. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 915.80, Code 2018, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 7A. “Survivor of a deceased victim” means a 3 survivor who is a spouse, former spouse, child, foster child, 4 parent, legal guardian, foster parent, stepparent, sibling, or 5 foster sibling of a victim, or a person cohabiting with, or 6 otherwise related by blood or affinity to, a victim, if the 7 victim dies as a result of a crime, a good-faith effort to 8 prevent the commission of a crime, or a good-faith effort to 9 apprehend a person suspected of committing a crime. 10 Sec. 2. Section 915.86, subsections 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 11 15, and 16, Code 2018, are amended to read as follows: 12 4. Loss of income from work that the victim, the victim’s 13 parent or caretaker, or the survivor of a homicide deceased 14 victim as described in subsection 10 would have performed and 15 for which that person would have received remuneration, where 16 the loss of income is a direct result of cooperation with 17 the investigation and prosecution of the crime or attendance 18 at criminal justice proceedings including the trial and 19 sentencing in the case, or due to the planning of or attendance 20 at a funeral, memorial, or burial service, not to exceed one 21 thousand dollars per person . 22 8. In the event of a victim’s death, reasonable charges 23 incurred for counseling the victim’s spouse, children, parents, 24 siblings, or persons cohabiting with or related by blood 25 or affinity to the a survivor of a deceased victim if the 26 counseling services are provided by a psychologist licensed 27 under chapter 154B , a victim counselor as defined in section 28 915.20A, subsection 1 , or an individual holding at least a 29 master’s degree in social work or counseling and guidance, and 30 reasonable charges incurred by such persons for medical care 31 counseling provided by a psychiatrist licensed under chapter 32 148 . The allowable charges under this subsection shall not 33 exceed five thousand dollars per person. 34 9. In the event of a homicide victim’s death , reasonable 35 -1- LSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj 1/ 5
S.F. _____ charges incurred for health care for the victim’s spouse; 1 child, foster child, stepchild, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law; 2 parent, foster parent, or stepparent; sibling, foster sibling, 3 stepsibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; grandparent; 4 grandchild; aunt, uncle, or first cousin; legal ward; or person 5 cohabiting with the a survivor of a deceased victim, not to 6 exceed three thousand dollars per survivor. 7 10. In the event of a homicide victim’s death , loss of 8 income from work that, but for the death of the victim, would 9 have been earned by the victim’s spouse; child, foster child, 10 stepchild, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law; parent, foster 11 parent, or stepparent; sibling, foster sibling, stepsibling, 12 brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; grandparent; grandchild; 13 aunt, uncle, or first cousin; legal ward; or person cohabiting 14 with the a survivor of a deceased victim, not to exceed six 15 thousand dollars. 16 11. Reasonable expenses incurred by the victim, secondary 17 victim, or survivor of a deceased victim for cleaning the scene 18 of a crime , if the scene is a residence , not to exceed one 19 thousand dollars per crime scene . 20 13. Reasonable dependent care expenses incurred by the 21 victim, the victim’s parent or caretaker, or the survivor of a 22 homicide deceased victim as described in subsection 10 for the 23 care of dependents while attending criminal justice proceedings 24 or , medical or counseling services, or funeral, burial, or 25 memorial services, not to exceed one thousand dollars per 26 person. 27 14. Reasonable crime-related expenses incurred by a victim, 28 the victim’s parent or caretaker, or the a survivor of a 29 homicide deceased victim as described in subsection 10 to 30 replace inadequate or damaged or install new locks, windows, 31 and other residential security items at the victim’s residence 32 or at the residential scene of a crime , not to exceed five 33 hundred dollars per residence. 34 15. Reasonable expenses incurred by the victim, a secondary 35 -2- LSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj 2/ 5
S.F. _____ victim, the parent or guardian of a victim, or the a survivor 1 of a homicide deceased victim as described in subsection 10 for 2 transportation to medical , or counseling services , funeral, or 3 criminal justice proceedings, or a funeral, memorial, or burial 4 service, not to exceed one thousand dollars per person. 5 16. Reasonable charges incurred by a victim, a secondary 6 victim, the a survivor of a homicide deceased victim as 7 described in subsection 9 , or by a victim service program on 8 behalf of a victim, for emergency relocation expenses, not to 9 exceed one thousand dollars per person per lifetime. 10 Sec. 3. Section 915.86, Code 2018, is amended by adding the 11 following new subsection: 12 NEW SUBSECTION . 18. a. Additional compensation to a 13 victim, secondary victim, or survivor of a deceased victim in 14 an amount not to exceed a total of five thousand dollars per 15 person for charges, expenses, or loss of income incurred that 16 would otherwise be compensable under this section but for the 17 eligibility requirements and compensation limits provided for 18 at the time of initial application for compensation under this 19 section under the following circumstances: 20 (1) The charges, expenses, or loss of income incurred were 21 not compensable under this section at the time of initial 22 application for compensation under this section. 23 (2) The victim, secondary victim, or survivor of a deceased 24 victim demonstrates that a denial of additional compensation 25 under this subsection would constitute an undue hardship. 26 (3) The victim, secondary victim, or survivor of a deceased 27 victim incurs additional charges, expenses, or loss of income 28 upon occurrence of a new event related to the event authorizing 29 compensation under this section that would otherwise be 30 compensable under this section but for the compensation 31 limits provided for the applicable compensation category. For 32 purposes of this subparagraph, “new event” includes additional 33 criminal justice proceedings due to a mistrial, retrial, or 34 separate or additional trials resulting from the existence of 35 -3- LSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj 3/ 5
S.F. _____ multiple offenders; a new appellate court decision relating to 1 the event authorizing compensation under this section; a change 2 of venue of a trial; a change in offender custody status; the 3 death of the offender; or the exoneration of the offender. 4 b. Additional compensation otherwise authorized by this 5 subsection shall not be awarded for an application for 6 compensation under subsection 7, 16, or 17. 7 EXPLANATION 8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 9 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 10 This bill concerns compensation payable under the victim 11 compensation program. 12 Code section 915.80 is amended to add a definition for a 13 survivor of a deceased victim and provides that a survivor 14 includes a spouse, former spouse, child, foster child, parent, 15 legal guardian, foster parent, stepparent, sibling, foster 16 sibling of, or person cohabiting with, or related by blood 17 or affinity to, a deceased victim. The definition generally 18 applies throughout the Code chapter to homicide victims. 19 Code section 915.86, concerning computation of compensation 20 under the victim compensation program, is amended. 21 The bill amends provisions concerning reimbursement of 22 loss of income from work to allow reimbursement for attending 23 or planning the funeral, memorial, or burial services of the 24 deceased victim. In addition, the bill provides that the 25 compensation limit under this category is $1,000 per person. 26 The bill amends provisions concerning reimbursement for 27 cleaning the scene of the crime to strike the limitation that 28 the cleaning be limited to a crime scene that is a residence, 29 and provides that the compensation limit of $1,000 applies per 30 crime scene. 31 The provisions concerning dependent care expenses are 32 amended to allow compensation for attending funeral, burial, or 33 memorial services. 34 The bill amends provisions concerning reimbursement for 35 -4- LSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj 4/ 5
S.F. _____ certain security items to allow reimbursement to replace 1 inadequate or damaged or install new locks, windows, and 2 residential security items instead of just to replace these 3 items. 4 The provisions concerning reimbursement for certain 5 transportation costs is amended to allow compensation for 6 transportation to a funeral, memorial, or burial service. 7 The bill adds a new provision to provide additional 8 compensation of up to a total of $5,000 for qualifying 9 compensable expenses under the Code section if the expenses 10 were not eligible for compensation at the time the initial 11 application for benefits was made; the victim, secondary 12 victim, or survivor of a deceased victim demonstrates that a 13 denial of additional compensation would constitute an undue 14 hardship; or additional compensable qualifying expenses are 15 incurred following a new event. The bill defines “new event” 16 to include additional criminal justice proceedings, a new 17 appellate court decision relating to the event, a change of 18 venue of a trial, a change in offender custody status, the 19 death of the offender, or the exoneration of the offender. The 20 new provision further provides that expenses related to loss 21 of support or charges incurred by a victim service program for 22 emergency relocation expenses or housing assistance are not 23 eligible for additional compensation. 24 -5- LSB 5650XC (4) 87 ec/rj 5/ 5