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S. B. No. 318 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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A BILL
To amend sections 2743.51, 2743.56, and 2743.71 of
the Revised Code to allow an award of reparations
for psychiatric care and counseling to all
immediate family members of a crime victim and to
extend the time within which a minor victim of
crime may file a claim for reparations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2743.51, 2743.56, and 2743.71 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2743.51. As used in sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the
Revised Code:
(A) "Claimant" means both of the following categories of
persons:
(1) Any of the following persons who claim an award of
reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code:
(a) A victim who was one of the following at the time of the
criminally injurious conduct:
(i) A resident of the United States;
(ii) A resident of a foreign country the laws of which permit
residents of this state to recover compensation as victims of
offenses committed in that country.
(b) A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in
division (A)(1)(a) of this section;
(c) A third person, other than a collateral source, who
legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,
or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division
(A)(1)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a
result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of
the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or
burial expenses;
(d) A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any person
who is described in division (A)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this
section;
(e) The estate of a deceased victim who is described in
division (A)(1)(a) of this section.
(2) Any of the following persons who claim an award of
reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code:
(a) A victim who had a permanent place of residence within
this state at the time of the criminally injurious conduct and
who, at the time of the criminally injurious conduct, complied
with any one of the following:
(i) Had a permanent place of employment in this state;
(ii) Was a member of the regular armed forces of the United
States or of the United States coast guard or was a full-time
member of the Ohio organized militia or of the United States army
reserve, naval reserve, or air force reserve;
(iii) Was retired and receiving social security or any other
retirement income;
(iv) Was sixty years of age or older;
(v) Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of
receiving medical treatment;
(vi) Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of
performing employment-related duties required by an employer
located within this state as an express condition of employment or
employee benefits;
(vii) Was temporarily in another state for the purpose of
receiving occupational, vocational, or other job-related training
or instruction required by an employer located within this state
as an express condition of employment or employee benefits;
(viii) Was a full-time student at an academic institution,
college, or university located in another state;
(ix) Had not departed the geographical boundaries of this
state for a period exceeding thirty days or with the intention of
becoming a citizen of another state or establishing a permanent
place of residence in another state.
(b) A dependent of a deceased victim who is described in
division (A)(2)(a) of this section;
(c) A third person, other than a collateral source, who
legally assumes or voluntarily pays the obligations of a victim,
or of a dependent of a victim, who is described in division
(A)(2)(a) of this section, which obligations are incurred as a
result of the criminally injurious conduct that is the subject of
the claim and may include, but are not limited to, medical or
burial expenses;
(d) A person who is authorized to act on behalf of any person
who is described in division (A)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of this
section;
(e) The estate of a deceased victim who is described in
division (A)(2)(a) of this section.
(B) "Collateral source" means a source of benefits or
advantages for economic loss otherwise reparable that the victim
or claimant has received, or that is readily available to the
victim or claimant, from any of the following sources:
(2) The government of the United States or any of its
agencies, a state or any of its political subdivisions, or an
instrumentality of two or more states, unless the law providing
for the benefits or advantages makes them excess or secondary to
benefits under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code;
(3) Social security, medicare, and medicaid;
(4) State-required, temporary, nonoccupational disability
insurance;
(5) Workers' compensation;
(6) Wage continuation programs of any employer;
(7) Proceeds of a contract of insurance payable to the victim
for loss that the victim sustained because of the criminally
injurious conduct;
(8) A contract providing prepaid hospital and other health
care services, or benefits for disability;
(9) That portion of the proceeds of all contracts of
insurance payable to the claimant on account of the death of the
victim that exceeds fifty thousand dollars;
(10) Any compensation recovered or recoverable under the laws
of another state, district, territory, or foreign country because
the victim was the victim of an offense committed in that state,
district, territory, or country.
"Collateral source" does not include any money, or the
monetary value of any property, that is subject to sections
2969.01 to 2969.06 of the Revised Code or that is received as a
benefit from the Ohio public safety officers death benefit fund
created by section 742.62 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Criminally injurious conduct" means one of the
following:
(1) For the purposes of any person described in division
(A)(1) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted in
this state; poses a substantial threat of personal injury or
death; and is punishable by fine, imprisonment, or death, or would
be so punishable but for the fact that the person engaging in the
conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws of this
state. Criminally injurious conduct does not include conduct
arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor
vehicle, except when any of the following applies:
(a) The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause
personal injury or death;
(b) The person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle
to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act that would
constitute a felony but for the fact that the person engaging in
the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony under the
laws of this state;
(c) The person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle
in a manner that constitutes an OVI violation;
(d) The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, and the
person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a manner
that constitutes a violation of section 2903.08 of the Revised
Code;
(e) The person engaging in the conduct acted in a manner that
caused serious physical harm to a person and that constituted a
violation of section 4549.02 or 4549.021 of the Revised Code.
(2) For the purposes of any person described in division
(A)(2) of this section, any conduct that occurs or is attempted in
another state, district, territory, or foreign country; poses a
substantial threat of personal injury or death; and is punishable
by fine, imprisonment, or death, or would be so punishable but for
the fact that the person engaging in the conduct lacked capacity
to commit the crime under the laws of the state, district,
territory, or foreign country in which the conduct occurred or was
attempted. Criminally injurious conduct does not include conduct
arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor
vehicle, except when any of the following applies:
(a) The person engaging in the conduct intended to cause
personal injury or death;
(b) The person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle
to flee immediately after committing a felony or an act that would
constitute a felony but for the fact that the person engaging in
the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the felony under the
laws of the state, district, territory, or foreign country in
which the conduct occurred or was attempted;
(c) The person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle
in a manner that constitutes an OVI violation;
(d) The conduct occurred on or after July 25, 1990, the
person engaging in the conduct was using the vehicle in a manner
that constitutes a violation of any law of the state, district,
territory, or foreign country in which the conduct occurred, and
that law is substantially similar to a violation of section
2903.08 of the Revised Code;
(e) The person engaging in the conduct acted in a manner that
caused serious physical harm to a person and that constituted a
violation of any law of the state, district, territory, or foreign
country in which the conduct occurred, and that law is
substantially similar to section 4549.02 or 4549.021 of the
Revised Code.
(3) For the purposes of any person described in division
(A)(1) or (2) of this section, terrorism that occurs within or
outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
(D) "Dependent" means an individual wholly or partially
dependent upon the victim for care and support, and includes a
child of the victim born after the victim's death.
(E) "Economic loss" means economic detriment consisting only
of allowable expense, work loss, funeral expense, unemployment
benefits loss, replacement services loss, cost of crime scene
cleanup, and cost of evidence replacement. If criminally injurious
conduct causes death, economic loss includes a dependent's
economic loss and a dependent's replacement services loss.
Noneconomic detriment is not economic loss; however, economic loss
may be caused by pain and suffering or physical impairment.
(F)(1) "Allowable expense" means reasonable charges incurred
for reasonably needed products, services, and accommodations,
including those for medical care, rehabilitation, rehabilitative
occupational training, and other remedial treatment and care and
including replacement costs for hearing aids; dentures, retainers,
and other dental appliances; canes, walkers, and other mobility
tools; and eyeglasses and other corrective lenses. It does not
include that portion of a charge for a room in a hospital, clinic,
convalescent home, nursing home, or any other institution engaged
in providing nursing care and related services in excess of a
reasonable and customary charge for semiprivate accommodations,
unless accommodations other than semiprivate accommodations are
medically required.
(2) An immediate family member of a victim of criminally
injurious conduct that consists of a homicide, a sexual assault,
domestic violence, or a severe and permanent incapacitating injury
resulting in paraplegia or a similar life-altering condition, who
requires psychiatric care or counseling as a result of the
criminally injurious conduct, may be reimbursed for that care or
counseling as an allowable expense through the victim's
application. The cumulative allowable expense for care or
counseling of that nature shall not exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars for each immediate family member of a victim of
that type and seven thousand five hundred dollars in the aggregate
for all immediate family members of a victim of that type.
(3) A family member of a victim who died as a proximate
result of criminally injurious conduct may be reimbursed as an
allowable expense through the victim's application for wages lost
and travel expenses incurred in order to attend criminal justice
proceedings arising from the criminally injurious conduct. The
cumulative allowable expense for wages lost and travel expenses
incurred by a family member to attend criminal justice proceedings
shall not exceed five hundred dollars for each family member of
the victim and two thousand dollars in the aggregate for all
family members of the victim.
(4)(a) "Allowable expense" includes reasonable expenses and
fees necessary to obtain a guardian's bond pursuant to section
2109.04 of the Revised Code when the bond is required to pay an
award to a fiduciary on behalf of a minor or other incompetent.
(b) "Allowable expense" includes attorney's fees not
exceeding one thousand dollars, at a rate not exceeding one
hundred dollars per hour, incurred to successfully obtain a
restraining order, custody order, or other order to physically
separate a victim from an offender. Attorney's fees for the
services described in this division may include an amount for
reasonable travel time incurred to attend court hearings, not
exceeding three hours' round-trip for each court hearing, assessed
at a rate not exceeding thirty dollars per hour.
(G) "Work loss" means loss of income from work that the
injured person would have performed if the person had not been
injured and expenses reasonably incurred by the person to obtain
services in lieu of those the person would have performed for
income, reduced by any income from substitute work actually
performed by the person, or by income the person would have earned
in available appropriate substitute work that the person was
capable of performing but unreasonably failed to undertake.
(H) "Replacement services loss" means expenses reasonably
incurred in obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of
those the injured person would have performed, not for income, but
for the benefit of the person's self or family, if the person had
not been injured.
(I) "Dependent's economic loss" means loss after a victim's
death of contributions of things of economic value to the victim's
dependents, not including services they would have received from
the victim if the victim had not suffered the fatal injury, less
expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of the victim's
death. If a minor child of a victim is adopted after the victim's
death, the minor child continues after the adoption to incur a
dependent's economic loss as a result of the victim's death. If
the surviving spouse of a victim remarries, the surviving spouse
continues after the remarriage to incur a dependent's economic
loss as a result of the victim's death.
(J) "Dependent's replacement services loss" means loss
reasonably incurred by dependents after a victim's death in
obtaining ordinary and necessary services in lieu of those the
victim would have performed for their benefit if the victim had
not suffered the fatal injury, less expenses of the dependents
avoided by reason of the victim's death and not subtracted in
calculating the dependent's economic loss. If a minor child of a
victim is adopted after the victim's death, the minor child
continues after the adoption to incur a dependent's replacement
services loss as a result of the victim's death. If the surviving
spouse of a victim remarries, the surviving spouse continues after
the remarriage to incur a dependent's replacement services loss as
a result of the victim's death.
(K) "Noneconomic detriment" means pain, suffering,
inconvenience, physical impairment, or other nonpecuniary damage.
(L) "Victim" means a person who suffers personal injury or
death as a result of any of the following:
(1) Criminally injurious conduct;
(2) The good faith effort of any person to prevent criminally
injurious conduct;
(3) The good faith effort of any person to apprehend a person
suspected of engaging in criminally injurious conduct.
(M) "Contributory misconduct" means any conduct of the
claimant or of the victim through whom the claimant claims an
award of reparations that is unlawful or intentionally tortious
and that, without regard to the conduct's proximity in time or
space to the criminally injurious conduct, has a causal
relationship to the criminally injurious conduct that is the basis
of the claim.
(N)(1) "Funeral expense" means any reasonable charges that
are not in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars per
funeral and that are incurred for expenses directly related to a
victim's funeral, cremation, or burial and any wages lost or
travel expenses incurred by a family member of a victim in order
to attend the victim's funeral, cremation, or burial.
(2) An award for funeral expenses shall be applied first to
expenses directly related to the victim's funeral, cremation, or
burial. An award for wages lost or travel expenses incurred by a
family member of the victim shall not exceed five hundred dollars
for each family member and shall not exceed in the aggregate the
difference between seven thousand five hundred dollars and
expenses that are reimbursed by the program and that are directly
related to the victim's funeral, cremation, or burial.
(O) "Unemployment benefits loss" means a loss of unemployment
benefits pursuant to Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code when the
loss arises solely from the inability of a victim to meet the able
to work, available for suitable work, or the actively seeking
suitable work requirements of division (A)(4)(a) of section
4141.29 of the Revised Code.
(P) "OVI violation" means any of the following:
(1) A violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, of
any municipal ordinance prohibiting the operation of a vehicle
while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a
combination of them, or of any municipal ordinance prohibiting the
operation of a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol,
a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance
in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine;
(2) A violation of division (A)(1) of section 2903.06 of the
Revised Code;
(3) A violation of division (A)(2), (3), or (4) of section
2903.06 of the Revised Code or of a municipal ordinance
substantially similar to any of those divisions, if the offender
was under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a
combination of them, at the time of the commission of the offense;
(4) For purposes of any person described in division (A)(2)
of this section, a violation of any law of the state, district,
territory, or foreign country in which the criminally injurious
conduct occurred, if that law is substantially similar to a
violation described in division (P)(1) or (2) of this section or
if that law is substantially similar to a violation described in
division (P)(3) of this section and the offender was under the
influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them,
at the time of the commission of the offense.
(Q) "Pendency of the claim" for an original reparations
application or supplemental reparations application means the
period of time from the date the criminally injurious conduct upon
which the application is based occurred until the date a final
decision, order, or judgment concerning that original reparations
application or supplemental reparations application is issued.
(R) "Terrorism" means any activity to which all of the
following apply:
(1) The activity involves a violent act or an act that is
dangerous to human life.
(2) The act described in division (R)(1) of this section is
committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States
and is a violation of the criminal laws of the United States, this
state, or any other state or the act described in division (R)(1)
of this section is committed outside the territorial jurisdiction
of the United States and would be a violation of the criminal laws
of the United States, this state, or any other state if committed
within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
(3) The activity appears to be intended to do any of the
following:
(a) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
(b) Influence the policy of any government by intimidation or
coercion;
(c) Affect the conduct of any government by assassination or
kidnapping.
(4) The activity occurs primarily outside the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States or transcends the national
boundaries of the United States in terms of the means by which the
activity is accomplished, the person or persons that the activity
appears intended to intimidate or coerce, or the area or locale in
which the perpetrator or perpetrators of the activity operate or
seek asylum.
(S) "Transcends the national boundaries of the United States"
means occurring outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United
States in addition to occurring within the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States.
(T) "Cost of crime scene cleanup" means any of the following:
(1) The replacement cost for items of clothing removed from a
victim in order to make an assessment of possible physical harm or
to treat physical harm;
(2) Reasonable and necessary costs of cleaning the scene and
repairing, for the purpose of personal security, property damaged
at the scene where the criminally injurious conduct occurred, not
to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate per claim.
(U) "Cost of evidence replacement" means costs for
replacement of property confiscated for evidentiary purposes
related to the criminally injurious conduct, not to exceed seven
hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate per claim.
(V) "Provider" means any person who provides a victim or
claimant with a product, service, or accommodations that are an
allowable expense or a funeral expense.
(W) "Immediate family member" means an either of the
following:
(1) An individual who resided in the same permanent household
as a victim at the time of the criminally injurious conduct and
who is related to the victim by affinity or consanguinity;
(2) A spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or
grandchild of the victim.
(X) "Family member" means an individual who is related to a
victim by affinity or consanguinity.
Sec. 2743.56. (A) A claim for an award of reparations shall
be commenced by filing an application for an award of reparations
with the attorney general. The application may be filed by mail.
If the application is filed by mail, the post-marked date of the
application shall be considered the filing date of the
application. The application shall be in a form prescribed by the
attorney general and shall include a release authorizing the
attorney general and the court of claims to obtain any report,
document, or information that relates to the determination of the
claim for an award of reparations that is requested in the
application.
(B) All applications An application for an award of
reparations shall may be filed as follows:
(1) If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was a
minor, within two years of the victim's eighteenth birthday or
within two years from the date a complaint, indictment, or
information is filed against the alleged offender, whichever is
later. This division does not require that a complaint,
indictment, or information be filed against an alleged offender in
order for an application for an award of reparations to be filed
pertaining to a victim who was a minor if the application is filed
within two years of the victim's eighteenth birthday, and does not
affect the provisions of section 2743.64 of the Revised Code.
(2) If the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was an
adult, at any time after the occurrence of the criminally
injurious conduct.
Sec. 2743.71. (A) Any law enforcement agency that
investigates, and any prosecuting attorney, city director of law,
village solicitor, or similar prosecuting authority who
prosecutes, an offense committed in this state shall, upon first
contact with the victim or the victim's family or dependents, give
the victim or the victim's family or dependents a copy of an
information card or other printed material provided by the
attorney general pursuant to division (B) of this section and
explain, upon request, the information on the card or material to
the victim or the victim's family or dependents.
(B) The attorney general shall have printed, and shall
provide to law enforcement agencies, prosecuting attorneys, city
directors of law, village solicitors, and similar prosecuting
authorities, cards or other materials that contain information
explaining awards of reparations. The information on the cards or
other materials shall include, but shall not be limited to, the
following statements:
(1) Awards of reparations are limited to losses that are
caused by physical injury resulting from criminally injurious
conduct;
(2) Reparations applications are required to may be filed
within two years at any time after the date occurrence of the
criminally injurious conduct if the victim was an adult, or within
the period provided by division (C)(1) of section 2743.56 of the
Revised Code if the victim of the criminally injurious conduct was
a minor;
(3) An attorney who represents an applicant for an award of
reparations cannot charge the applicant for the services rendered
in relation to that representation but is required to apply to the
attorney general for payment for the representation;
(4) Applications for awards of reparations may be obtained
from the attorney general, law enforcement agencies, and victim
assistance agencies and are to be filed with the attorney general.
(C) The attorney general may order that a reasonable amount
of money be paid out of the reparations fund, subject to the
limitation imposed by division (D) of this section, for use by the
attorney general to publicize the availability of awards of
reparations.
(D) During any fiscal year, the total expenditure for the
printing and providing of information cards or other materials
pursuant to division (B) of this section and for the publicizing
of the availability of awards of reparations pursuant to division
(C) of this section shall not exceed two per cent of the total of
all court costs deposited, in accordance with section 2743.70 of
the Revised Code, in the reparations fund during the immediately
preceding fiscal year.
Section 2. That existing sections 2743.51, 2743.56, and
2743.71 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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