As Reported by the House Criminal Justice Committee         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            

            MASON-BATCHELDER-SUTTON-FORD-WILLAMOWSKI               10           


                                                                   12           

                           A   B I L L                                          

             To amend sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of the Revised  14           

                Code to increase the amount of recoverable         15           

                funeral expenses under the Crime Victims           16           

                Reparations Law and to revise the  information an  17           

                applicant must submit in an application for a      18           

                reparations award  under that Law.                 19           




BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:        21           

      Section 1.  That sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of the         23           

Revised Code be amended to read as follows:                        24           

      Sec. 2743.51.  As used in sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of     33           

the Revised Code:                                                  34           

      (A)  "Claimant" means both of the following categories of    36           

persons:                                                           37           

      (1)  Any of the following persons who claim an award of      39           

reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised       40           

Code:                                                              41           

      (a)  A victim who was one of the following at the time of    43           

the criminally injurious conduct:                                  44           

      (i)  A resident of the United States;                        46           

      (ii)  A resident of a foreign country the laws of which      48           

permit residents of this state to recover compensation as victims  49           

of offenses committed in that country.                             50           

      (b)  A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in    52           

division (A)(1)(a) of this section;                                53           

                                                          2      

                                                                 
      (c)  A third person, other than a collateral source, who     55           

legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,   56           

or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division        57           

(A)(1)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a     58           

result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of  59           

the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or      60           

burial expenses;                                                   61           

      (d)  A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any      63           

person who is described in division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of      64           

this section.                                                      65           

      (2)  Any of the following persons who claim an award of      67           

reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised       68           

Code:                                                              69           

      (a)  A victim who had a permanent place of residence within  71           

this state at the time of the criminally injurious conduct and     72           

who, at the time of the criminally injurious conduct, complied     73           

with any one of the following:                                     74           

      (i)  Had a permanent place of employment in this state;      76           

      (ii)  Was a member of the regular armed forces of the        78           

United States or of the United States coast guard or was a         79           

full-time member of the Ohio organized militia or of the United    80           

States army reserve, naval reserve, or air force reserve;          81           

      (iii)  Was retired and receiving social security or any      83           

other retirement income;                                           84           

      (iv)  Was sixty years of age or older;                       86           

      (v)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of     88           

receiving medical treatment;                                       89           

      (vi)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of    91           

performing employment-related duties required by an employer       92           

located within this state as an express condition of employment    93           

or employee benefits;                                              94           

      (vii)  Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of   96           

receiving occupational, vocational, or other job-related training  97           

or instruction required by an employer located within this state   98           

                                                          3      

                                                                 
as an express condition of employment or employee benefits;        99           

      (viii)  Was a full-time student at an academic institution,  101          

college, or university located in another state;                   102          

      (ix)  Had not departed the geographical boundaries of this   104          

state for a period exceeding thirty days or with the intention of  105          

becoming a citizen of another state or establishing a permanent    106          

place of residence in another state.                               107          

      (b)  A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in    109          

division (A)(2)(a) of this section;                                110          

      (c)  A third person, other than a collateral source, who     112          

legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,   113          

or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division        114          

(A)(2)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a     115          

result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of  116          

the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or      117          

burial expenses;                                                   118          

      (d)  A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any      120          

person who is described in division (A)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of      121          

this section.                                                      122          

      (B)  "Collateral source" means a source of benefits or       124          

advantages for economic loss otherwise reparable that the victim   125          

or claimant has received, or that is readily available to the      126          

victim or claimant, from any of the following sources:             127          

      (1)  The offender;                                           129          

      (2)  The government of the United States or any of its       131          

agencies, a state or any of its political subdivisions, or an      132          

instrumentality of two or more states, unless the law providing    133          

for the benefits or advantages makes them excess or secondary to   134          

benefits under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code;    135          

      (3)  Social security, medicare, and medicaid;                137          

      (4)  State-required, temporary, nonoccupational disability   139          

insurance;                                                         140          

      (5)  Workers' compensation;                                  142          

      (6)  Wage continuation programs of any employer;             144          

                                                          4      

                                                                 
      (7)  Proceeds of a contract of insurance payable to the      146          

victim for loss that the victim sustained because of the           147          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      149          

      (8)  A contract providing prepaid hospital and other health  151          

care services, or benefits for disability;                         152          

      (9)  That portion of the proceeds of all contracts of        154          

insurance payable to the claimant on account of the death of the   155          

victim that exceeds fifty thousand dollars;                        156          

      (10)  Any compensation recovered or recoverable under the    158          

laws of another state, district, territory, or foreign country     159          

because the victim was the victim of an offense committed in that  160          

state, district, territory, or country.                            161          

      "Collateral source" does not include any money, or the       163          

monetary value of any property, that is subject to sections        164          

2969.01 to 2969.06 of the Revised Code.                            165          

      (C)  "Criminally injurious conduct" means either of the      167          

following:                                                         168          

      (1)  For the purposes of any person described in division    170          

(A)(1) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted    171          

in this state; poses a substantial threat of personal injury or    172          

death; and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death, or       173          

would be so punishable but for the fact that the person engaging   174          

in the conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws  175          

of this state.  Criminally injurious conduct does not include      176          

conduct arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a     177          

motor vehicle, except when any of the following applies:           178          

      (a)  The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause    180          

personal injury or death;                                          181          

      (b)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        183          

vehicle to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act    184          

that would constitute a felony but for the fact that the person    185          

engaging in the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony   186          

under the laws of this state;                                      187          

      (c)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        189          

                                                          5      

                                                                 
vehicle in a manner that constitutes an OMVI violation;            190          

      (d)  The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, and     192          

the person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a      193          

manner that constitutes a violation of section 2903.08 of the      194          

Revised Code.                                                      195          

      (2)  For the purposes of any person described in division    197          

(A)(2) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted    198          

in another state, district, territory, or foreign country; poses   199          

a substantial threat of personal injury or death; and is           200          

punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death, or would be so         201          

punishable but for the fact that the person engaging in the        202          

conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws of the  203          

state, district, territory, or foreign country in which the        204          

conduct occurred or was attempted.  Criminally injurious conduct   205          

does not include conduct arising out of the ownership,             206          

maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, except when any of the     207          

following applies:                                                 208          

      (a)  The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause    210          

personal injury or death;                                          211          

      (b)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        213          

vehicle to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act    214          

that would constitute a felony but for the fact that the person    215          

engaging in the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony   216          

under the laws of the state, district, territory, or foreign       217          

country in which the conduct occurred or was attempted;            218          

      (c)  The person engaging in the conduct was using the        220          

vehicle in a manner that constitutes an OMVI violation;            221          

      (d)  The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, the     223          

person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a manner   224          

that constitutes a violation of any law of the state, district,    225          

territory, or foreign country in which the conduct occurred, and   226          

that law is substantially similar to a violation of section        227          

2903.08 of the Revised Code.                                       228          

      (D)  "Dependent" means an individual wholly or partially     230          

                                                          6      

                                                                 
dependent upon the victim for care and support, and includes a     231          

child of the victim born after the victim's death.                 232          

      (E)  "Economic loss" means economic detriment consisting     234          

only of allowable expense, work loss, funeral expense,             235          

unemployment benefits loss, and replacement services loss.  If     236          

criminally injurious conduct causes death, economic loss includes  237          

a dependent's economic loss and a dependent's replacement          238          

services loss.  Noneconomic detriment is not economic loss;        239          

however, economic loss may be caused by pain and suffering or      240          

physical impairment.                                               241          

      (F)  "Allowable expense" means reasonable charges incurred   243          

for reasonably needed products, services, and accommodations,      244          

including those for medical care, rehabilitation, rehabilitative   245          

occupational training, and other remedial treatment and care and   246          

including replacement costs for eyeglasses and other corrective    247          

lenses.  It does not include that portion of a charge for a room   248          

in a hospital, clinic, convalescent home, nursing home, or any     249          

other institution engaged in providing nursing care and related    250          

services in excess of a reasonable and customary charge for        251          

semiprivate accommodations, unless accommodations other than       252          

semiprivate accommodations are medically required.                 253          

      (G)  "Work loss" means loss of income from work that the     255          

injured person would have performed if the person had not been     257          

injured and expenses reasonably incurred by the person to obtain   258          

services in lieu of those the person would have performed for      260          

income, reduced by any income from substitute work actually        262          

performed by the person, or by income the person would have        264          

earned in available appropriate substitute work that the person    266          

was capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake.    268          

      (H)  "Replacement services loss" means expenses reasonably   270          

incurred in obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of   271          

those the injured person would have performed, not for income,     272          

but for the benefit of the person's self or family, if the person  274          

had not been injured.                                              275          

                                                          7      

                                                                 
      (I)  "Dependent's economic loss" means loss after a          277          

victim's death of contributions of things of economic value to     278          

the victim's dependents, not including services they would have    280          

received from the victim if the victim had not suffered the fatal  281          

injury, less expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of the   283          

victim's death.                                                    284          

      (J)  "Dependent's replacement services loss" means loss      286          

reasonably incurred by dependents after a victim's death in        287          

obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of those the     288          

victim would have performed for their benefit if the victim had    290          

not suffered the fatal injury, less expenses of the dependents     291          

avoided by reason of the victim's death and not subtracted in      292          

calculating the dependent's economic loss.                         293          

      (K)  "Noneconomic detriment" means pain, suffering,          295          

inconvenience, physical impairment, or other nonpecuniary damage.  296          

      (L)  "Victim" means a person who suffers personal injury or  298          

death as a result of any of the following:                         299          

      (1)  Criminally injurious conduct;                           301          

      (2)  The good faith effort of any person to prevent          303          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      304          

      (3)  The good faith effort of any person to apprehend a      306          

person suspected of engaging in criminally injurious conduct.      307          

      (M)  "Contributory misconduct" means any conduct of the      309          

claimant or of the victim through whom the claimant claims an      310          

award of reparations that is unlawful or intentionally tortious    311          

and that, without regard to the conduct's proximity in time or     312          

space to the criminally injurious conduct, has a causal            313          

relationship to the criminally injurious conduct that is the       314          

basis of the claim.                                                315          

      (N)  "Funeral expense" means any reasonable charges that     317          

are not in excess of two FIVE thousand five hundred dollars PER    319          

FUNERAL and that are incurred for expenses directly related to     320          

the A victim's funeral, cremation, or burial.                      321          

      (O)  "Unemployment benefits loss" means a loss of            323          

                                                          8      

                                                                 
unemployment benefits pursuant to Chapter 4141. of the Revised     324          

Code when the loss arises solely from the inability of a victim    325          

to meet the able to work, available for suitable work, or the      326          

actively seeking suitable work requirements of division (A)(4)(a)  327          

of section 4141.29 of the Revised Code.                            328          

      (P)  "OMVI violation" means any of the following:            330          

      (1)  A violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, of  332          

any municipal ordinance prohibiting the operation of a vehicle     333          

while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol  334          

and a drug of abuse, or of any municipal ordinance prohibiting     335          

the operation of a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of      336          

alcohol in the blood, breath, or urine;                            337          

      (2)  A violation of section 2903.06 of the Revised Code, if  339          

the offender was under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse,  340          

or alcohol and a drug of abuse, at the time of the commission of   341          

the offense;                                                       342          

      (3)  A violation of section 2903.07 of the Revised Code or   344          

of a municipal ordinance substantially similar to that section,    345          

if the offender was under the influence of alcohol, a drug of      346          

abuse, or alcohol and a drug of abuse, at the time of the          347          

commission of the offense;                                         348          

      (4)  For purposes of any person described in division        350          

(A)(2) of this section, a violation of any law of the state,       351          

district, territory, or foreign country in which the criminally    352          

injurious conduct occurred, if that law is substantially similar   353          

to a violation described in division (P)(1) of this section or if  354          

that law is substantially similar to a violation described in      355          

division (P)(2) or (3) of this section and the offender was under  356          

the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol and a drug   357          

of abuse, at the time of the commission of the offense.            358          

      (Q)  "Pendency of the claim" for an original reparations     360          

application or supplemental reparations application means the      361          

period of time from the date the criminally injurious conduct      362          

upon which the application is based occurred until the date a      363          

                                                          9      

                                                                 
final order from the court of claims concerning that original      364          

reparations application or supplemental reparations application    365          

is issued.                                                                      

      Sec. 2743.56.  (A)  A claim for an award of reparations      374          

shall be commenced by filing an application for an award of        375          

reparations with the clerk of the court of claims or in the court  376          

of common pleas pursuant to division (B) of this section.          377          

      (B)  A claimant who files for an award of reparations in a   379          

court of common pleas shall file in the court of common pleas of   380          

the county of his THE CLAIMANT'S residence or, if he THE CLAIMANT  382          

is not a resident of this state, in the court of common pleas of   383          

the county in which the criminally injurious conduct that is the   384          

basis of the application took place.  Each application shall be    385          

accompanied by a filing fee of seven dollars and fifty cents       386          

unless waived pursuant to division (B) of section 2743.57 of the   387          

Revised Code.  The application shall be in a form prescribed by    388          

the clerk of the court of claims, and shall contain the following  389          

information:                                                                    

      (1)  The name and address of the victim of the criminally    391          

injurious conduct, the name and address of the claimant, and the   392          

relationship of the claimant to the victim;                        393          

      (2)  If the victim is deceased, the name and address of      395          

each dependent of the victim and the extent to which each is       396          

dependent upon the victim for care and support;                    397          

      (3)  The nature of the criminally injurious conduct that is  399          

the basis for the claim and the date on which the conduct          400          

occurred;                                                          401          

      (4)(3)  The law enforcement agency or officer to whom the    403          

criminally injurious conduct was reported and the date on which    404          

it was reported;                                                   405          

      (5)(4)  The nature and extent of the injuries that the       407          

victim sustained from the criminally injurious conduct, the name   408          

and address of any person who gave medical treatment to the        409          

victim for the injuries, the name and address of any hospital or   410          

                                                          10     

                                                                 
similar institution where the victim received medical treatment    411          

for the injuries, and whether the victim died as a result of the   412          

injuries;                                                          413          

      (6)(5)  The TYPE OF economic loss that the victim, a         415          

dependent, or the claimant sustained as a result of the            417          

criminally injurious conduct;                                      418          

      (7)  The amount of benefits or advantages that the victim,   420          

a dependent, or the claimant has received or is entitled to        421          

receive from any collateral source for economic loss that          422          

resulted from the criminally injurious conduct and the name of     423          

each collateral source;                                            424          

      (8)(6)  A release authorizing the court of claims, the       426          

court of claims commissioners, and the staff of the attorney       427          

general to obtain any report, document, or information that        428          

relates to the determination of the claim for an award of          429          

reparations that is requested in the application;                  430          

      (9)(7)  Any information that the clerk of the court of       432          

claims requires and that is reasonably related to an application   433          

for an award of reparations.  The clerk of the court of claims     434          

may require the claimant to submit with the application materials  435          

to substantiate the facts that are stated in the application.      436          

      (C)  All applications for an award of reparations shall be   438          

filed as follows:                                                  439          

      (1)  If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was   441          

a minor, within two years from the date a complaint, indictment,   442          

or information is filed against the alleged offender.  This        443          

division does not require that a complaint, indictment, or         444          

information be filed against an alleged offender in order for an   445          

application for an award of reparations to be filed pertaining to  446          

a victim who was a minor, and does not affect the provisions of    447          

section 2743.64 of the Revised Code.  This division applies to     448          

all applications for an award of reparations filed on or after     449          

March 11, 1987, and to any application for an award of             450          

reparations filed before March 11, 1987, for which an award or     451          

                                                          11     

                                                                 
denial of the claim is not final within the meaning of division    452          

(B) of section 2743.61 of the Revised Code.                        453          

      (2)  If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was   455          

an adult, within two years after the occurrence of the criminally  456          

injurious conduct.                                                 457          

      Section 2.  That existing sections 2743.51 and 2743.56 of    460          

the Revised Code are hereby repealed.