As Introduced                            1            

122nd General Assembly                                             4            

   Regular Session                                 H. B. No. 523   5            

      1997-1998                                                    6            


REPRESENTATIVES SALERNO-BRITTON-CAREY-CORBIN-GARCIA-GARDNER-JONES-  8            

  MOTTLEY-PRINGLE-SULZER-TAYLOR-THOMAS-WILLIAMS-WOMER BENJAMIN     9            


                                                                   10           

                           A   B I L L                                          

             To amend sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of the Revised  12           

                Code to increase the amount of recoverable         13           

                funeral expenses under the Crime Victims           14           

                Reparations Law and to revise the  information an  15           

                applicant must submit in an application for a      16           

                reparations award  under that Law.                 17           




BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:        19           

      Section 1.  That sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of the         21           

Revised Code be amended to read as follows:                        22           

      Sec. 2743.51.  As used in sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of     31           

the Revised Code:                                                  32           

      (A)  "Claimant" means both of the following categories of    34           

persons:                                                           35           

      (1)  Any of the following persons who claim an award of      37           

reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised       38           

Code:                                                              39           

      (a)  A victim who was one of the following at the time of    41           

the criminally injurious conduct:                                  42           

      (i)  A resident of the United States;                        44           

      (ii)  A resident of a foreign country the laws of which      46           

permit residents of this state to recover compensation as victims  47           

of offenses committed in that country.                             48           

      (b)  A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in    50           

division (A)(1)(a) of this section;                                51           

      (c)  A third person, other than a collateral source, who     53           

                                                          2      

                                                                 
legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,   54           

or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division        55           

(A)(1)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a     56           

result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of  57           

the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or      58           

burial expenses;                                                   59           

      (d)  A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any      61           

person who is described in division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of      62           

this section.                                                      63           

      (2)  Any of the following persons who claim an award of      65           

reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised       66           

Code:                                                              67           

      (a)  A victim who had a permanent place of residence within  69           

this state at the time of the criminally injurious conduct and     70           

who, at the time of the criminally injurious conduct, complied     71           

with any one of the following:                                     72           

      (i)  Had a permanent place of employment in this state;      74           

      (ii)  Was a member of the regular armed forces of the        76           

United States or of the United States coast guard or was a         77           

full-time member of the Ohio organized militia or of the United    78           

States army reserve, naval reserve, or air force reserve;          79           

      (iii)  Was retired and receiving social security or any      81           

other retirement income;                                           82           

      (iv)  Was sixty years of age or older;                       84           

      (v)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of     86           

receiving medical treatment;                                       87           

      (vi)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of    89           

performing employment-related duties required by an employer       90           

located within this state as an express condition of employment    91           

or employee benefits;                                              92           

      (vii)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of   94           

receiving occupational, vocational, or other job-related training  95           

or instruction required by an employer located within this state   96           

as an express condition of employment or employee benefits;        97           

                                                          3      

                                                                 
      (viii)  Was a full-time student at an academic institution,  99           

college, or university located in another state;                   100          

      (ix)  Had not departed the geographical boundaries of this   102          

state for a period exceeding thirty days or with the intention of  103          

becoming a citizen of another state or establishing a permanent    104          

place of residence in another state.                               105          

      (b)  A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in    107          

division (A)(2)(a) of this section;                                108          

      (c)  A third person, other than a collateral source, who     110          

legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,   111          

or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division        112          

(A)(2)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a     113          

result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of  114          

the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or      115          

burial expenses;                                                   116          

      (d)  A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any      118          

person who is described in division (A)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of      119          

this section.                                                      120          

      (B)  "Collateral source" means a source of benefits or       122          

advantages for economic loss otherwise reparable that the victim   123          

or claimant has received, or that is readily available to the      124          

victim or claimant, from any of the following sources:             125          

      (1)  The offender;                                           127          

      (2)  The government of the United States or any of its       129          

agencies, a state or any of its political subdivisions, or an      130          

instrumentality of two or more states, unless the law providing    131          

for the benefits or advantages makes them excess or secondary to   132          

benefits under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code;    133          

      (3)  Social security, medicare, and medicaid;                135          

      (4)  State-required, temporary, nonoccupational disability   137          

insurance;                                                         138          

      (5)  Workers' compensation;                                  140          

      (6)  Wage continuation programs of any employer;             142          

      (7)  Proceeds of a contract of insurance payable to the      144          

                                                          4      

                                                                 
victim for loss that the victim sustained because of the           145          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      147          

      (8)  A contract providing prepaid hospital and other health  149          

care services, or benefits for disability;                         150          

      (9)  That portion of the proceeds of all contracts of        152          

insurance payable to the claimant on account of the death of the   153          

victim that exceeds fifty thousand dollars;                        154          

      (10)  Any compensation recovered or recoverable under the    156          

laws of another state, district, territory, or foreign country     157          

because the victim was the victim of an offense committed in that  158          

state, district, territory, or country.                            159          

      "Collateral source" does not include any money, or the       161          

monetary value of any property, that is subject to sections        162          

2969.01 to 2969.06 of the Revised Code.                            163          

      (C)  "Criminally injurious conduct" means either of the      165          

following:                                                         166          

      (1)  For the purposes of any person described in division    168          

(A)(1) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted    169          

in this state; poses a substantial threat of personal injury or    170          

death; and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death, or       171          

would be so punishable but for the fact that the person engaging   172          

in the conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws  173          

of this state.  Criminally injurious conduct does not include      174          

conduct arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a     175          

motor vehicle, except when any of the following applies:           176          

      (a)  The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause    178          

personal injury or death;                                          179          

      (b)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        181          

vehicle to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act    182          

that would constitute a felony but for the fact that the person    183          

engaging in the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony   184          

under the laws of this state;                                      185          

      (c)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        187          

vehicle in a manner that constitutes an OMVI violation;            188          

                                                          5      

                                                                 
      (d)  The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, and     190          

the person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a      191          

manner that constitutes a violation of section 2903.08 of the      192          

Revised Code.                                                      193          

      (2)  For the purposes of any person described in division    195          

(A)(2) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted    196          

in another state, district, territory, or foreign country; poses   197          

a substantial threat of personal injury or death; and is           198          

punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death, or would be so         199          

punishable but for the fact that the person engaging in the        200          

conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws of the  201          

state, district, territory, or foreign country in which the        202          

conduct occurred or was attempted.  Criminally injurious conduct   203          

does not include conduct arising out of the ownership,             204          

maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, except when any of the     205          

following applies:                                                 206          

      (a)  The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause    208          

personal injury or death;                                          209          

      (b)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        211          

vehicle to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act    212          

that would constitute a felony but for the fact that the person    213          

engaging in the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony   214          

under the laws of the state, district, territory, or foreign       215          

country in which the conduct occurred or was attempted;            216          

      (c)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        218          

vehicle in a manner that constitutes an OMVI violation;            219          

      (d)  The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, the     221          

person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a manner   222          

that constitutes a violation of any law of the state, district,    223          

territory, or foreign country in which the conduct occurred, and   224          

that law is substantially similar to a violation of section        225          

2903.08 of the Revised Code.                                       226          

      (D)  "Dependent" means an individual wholly or partially     228          

dependent upon the victim for care and support, and includes a     229          

                                                          6      

                                                                 
child of the victim born after the victim's death.                 230          

      (E)  "Economic loss" means economic detriment consisting     232          

only of allowable expense, work loss, funeral expense,             233          

unemployment benefits loss, and replacement services loss.  If     234          

criminally injurious conduct causes death, economic loss includes  235          

a dependent's economic loss and a dependent's replacement          236          

services loss.  Noneconomic detriment is not economic loss;        237          

however, economic loss may be caused by pain and suffering or      238          

physical impairment.                                               239          

      (F)  "Allowable expense" means reasonable charges incurred   241          

for reasonably needed products, services, and accommodations,      242          

including those for medical care, rehabilitation, rehabilitative   243          

occupational training, and other remedial treatment and care and   244          

including replacement costs for eyeglasses and other corrective    245          

lenses.  It does not include that portion of a charge for a room   246          

in a hospital, clinic, convalescent home, nursing home, or any     247          

other institution engaged in providing nursing care and related    248          

services in excess of a reasonable and customary charge for        249          

semiprivate accommodations, unless accommodations other than       250          

semiprivate accommodations are medically required.                 251          

      (G)  "Work loss" means loss of income from work that the     253          

injured person would have performed if the person had not been     255          

injured and expenses reasonably incurred by the person to obtain   256          

services in lieu of those the person would have performed for      258          

income, reduced by any income from substitute work actually        260          

performed by the person, or by income the person would have        262          

earned in available appropriate substitute work that the person    264          

was capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake.    266          

      (H)  "Replacement services loss" means expenses reasonably   268          

incurred in obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of   269          

those the injured person would have performed, not for income,     270          

but for the benefit of the person's self or family, if the person  272          

had not been injured.                                              273          

      (I)  "Dependent's economic loss" means loss after a          275          

                                                          7      

                                                                 
victim's death of contributions of things of economic value to     276          

the victim's dependents, not including services they would have    278          

received from the victim if the victim had not suffered the fatal  279          

injury, less expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of the   281          

victim's death.                                                    282          

      (J)  "Dependent's replacement services loss" means loss      284          

reasonably incurred by dependents after a victim's death in        285          

obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of those the     286          

victim would have performed for their benefit if the victim had    288          

not suffered the fatal injury, less expenses of the dependents     289          

avoided by reason of the victim's death and not subtracted in      290          

calculating the dependent's economic loss.                         291          

      (K)  "Noneconomic detriment" means pain, suffering,          293          

inconvenience, physical impairment, or other nonpecuniary damage.  294          

      (L)  "Victim" means a person who suffers personal injury or  296          

death as a result of any of the following:                         297          

      (1)  Criminally injurious conduct;                           299          

      (2)  The good faith effort of any person to prevent          301          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      302          

      (3)  The good faith effort of any person to apprehend a      304          

person suspected of engaging in criminally injurious conduct.      305          

      (M)  "Contributory misconduct" means any conduct of the      307          

claimant or of the victim through whom the claimant claims an      308          

award of reparations that is unlawful or intentionally tortious    309          

and that, without regard to the conduct's proximity in time or     310          

space to the criminally injurious conduct, has a causal            311          

relationship to the criminally injurious conduct that is the       312          

basis of the claim.                                                313          

      (N)  "Funeral expense" means any reasonable charges that     315          

are not in excess of two FIVE thousand five hundred dollars PER    317          

FUNERAL and that are incurred for expenses directly related to     318          

the A victim's funeral, cremation, or burial.                      319          

      (O)  "Unemployment benefits loss" means a loss of            321          

unemployment benefits pursuant to Chapter 4141. of the Revised     322          

                                                          8      

                                                                 
Code when the loss arises solely from the inability of a victim    323          

to meet the able to work, available for suitable work, or the      324          

actively seeking suitable work requirements of division (A)(4)(a)  325          

of section 4141.29 of the Revised Code.                            326          

      (P)  "OMVI violation" means any of the following:            328          

      (1)  A violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, of  330          

any municipal ordinance prohibiting the operation of a vehicle     331          

while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol  332          

and a drug of abuse, or of any municipal ordinance prohibiting     333          

the operation of a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of      334          

alcohol in the blood, breath, or urine;                            335          

      (2)  A violation of section 2903.06 of the Revised Code, if  337          

the offender was under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse,  338          

or alcohol and a drug of abuse, at the time of the commission of   339          

the offense;                                                       340          

      (3)  A violation of section 2903.07 of the Revised Code or   342          

of a municipal ordinance substantially similar to that section,    343          

if the offender was under the influence of alcohol, a drug of      344          

abuse, or alcohol and a drug of abuse, at the time of the          345          

commission of the offense;                                         346          

      (4)  For purposes of any person described in division        348          

(A)(2) of this section, a violation of any law of the state,       349          

district, territory, or foreign country in which the criminally    350          

injurious conduct occurred, if that law is substantially similar   351          

to a violation described in division (P)(1) of this section or if  352          

that law is substantially similar to a violation described in      353          

division (P)(2) or (3) of this section and the offender was under  354          

the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol and a drug   355          

of abuse, at the time of the commission of the offense.            356          

      (Q)  "Pendency of the claim" for an original reparations     358          

application or supplemental reparations application means the      359          

period of time from the date the criminally injurious conduct      360          

upon which the application is based occurred until the date a      361          

final order from the court of claims concerning that original      362          

                                                          9      

                                                                 
reparations application or supplemental reparations application    363          

is issued.                                                                      

      Sec. 2743.56.  (A)  A claim for an award of reparations      372          

shall be commenced by filing an application for an award of        373          

reparations with the clerk of the court of claims or in the court  374          

of common pleas pursuant to division (B) of this section.          375          

      (B)  A claimant who files for an award of reparations in a   377          

court of common pleas shall file in the court of common pleas of   378          

the county of his THE CLAIMANT'S residence or, if he THE CLAIMANT  380          

is not a resident of this state, in the court of common pleas of   381          

the county in which the criminally injurious conduct that is the   382          

basis of the application took place.  Each application shall be    383          

accompanied by a filing fee of seven dollars and fifty cents       384          

unless waived pursuant to division (B) of section 2743.57 of the   385          

Revised Code.  The application shall be in a form prescribed by    386          

the clerk of the court of claims, and shall contain the following  387          

information:                                                                    

      (1)  The name and address of the victim of the criminally    389          

injurious conduct, the name and address of the claimant, and the   390          

relationship of the claimant to the victim;                        391          

      (2)  If the victim is deceased, the name and address of      393          

each dependent of the victim and the extent to which each is       394          

dependent upon the victim for care and support;                    395          

      (3)  The nature of the criminally injurious conduct that is  397          

the basis for the claim and the date on which the conduct          398          

occurred;                                                          399          

      (4)(3)  The law enforcement agency or officer to whom the    401          

criminally injurious conduct was reported and the date on which    402          

it was reported;                                                   403          

      (5)(4)  The nature and extent of the injuries that the       405          

victim sustained from the criminally injurious conduct, the name   406          

and address of any person who gave medical treatment to the        407          

victim for the injuries, the name and address of any hospital or   408          

similar institution where the victim received medical treatment    409          

                                                          10     

                                                                 
for the injuries, and whether the victim died as a result of the   410          

injuries;                                                          411          

      (6)(5)  The TYPE OF economic loss that the victim, a         413          

dependent, or the claimant sustained as a result of the            415          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      416          

      (7)  The amount of benefits or advantages that the victim,   418          

a dependent, or the claimant has received or is entitled to        419          

receive from any collateral source for economic loss that          420          

resulted from the criminally injurious conduct and the name of     421          

each collateral source;                                            422          

      (8)(6)  A release authorizing the court of claims, the       424          

court of claims commissioners, and the staff of the attorney       425          

general to obtain any report, document, or information that        426          

relates to the determination of the claim for an award of          427          

reparations that is requested in the application;                  428          

      (9)(7)  Any information that the clerk of the court of       430          

claims requires and that is reasonably related to an application   431          

for an award of reparations.  The clerk of the court of claims     432          

may require the claimant to submit with the application materials  433          

to substantiate the facts that are stated in the application.      434          

      (C)  All applications for an award of reparations shall be   436          

filed as follows:                                                  437          

      (1)  If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was   439          

a minor, within two years from the date a complaint, indictment,   440          

or information is filed against the alleged offender.  This        441          

division does not require that a complaint, indictment, or         442          

information be filed against an alleged offender in order for an   443          

application for an award of reparations to be filed pertaining to  444          

a victim who was a minor, and does not affect the provisions of    445          

section 2743.64 of the Revised Code.  This division applies to     446          

all applications for an award of reparations filed on or after     447          

March 11, 1987, and to any application for an award of             448          

reparations filed before March 11, 1987, for which an award or     449          

denial of the claim is not final within the meaning of division    450          

                                                          11     

                                                                 
(B) of section 2743.61 of the Revised Code.                        451          

      (2)  If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was   453          

an adult, within two years after the occurrence of the criminally  454          

injurious conduct.                                                 455          

      Section 2.  That existing sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of    458          

the Revised Code are hereby repealed.