(a) If a person suffers a personal injury or is killed as provided in section 54-209, the Office of Victim Services or, on review, a victim compensation commissioner may order the payment of compensation in accordance with the provisions of sections 54-201 to 54-218, inclusive: (1) To or for the benefit of the injured person; (2) in the case of personal injury of the victim, to any person responsible for the care of the victim who has suffered pecuniary loss as a result of such injury; (3) in the case of death of the victim, to or for the benefit of any one or more of the dependents of the victim, including any dependent child of a homicide victim who was killed by the other parent or to any person who has suffered pecuniary loss, including, but not limited to, funeral expenses, as a result of such death; or (4) to any person who has suffered a pecuniary loss due to a crime scene cleanup.
(b) For the purposes of sections 54-201 to 54-218, inclusive, a person shall be deemed to have intended an act notwithstanding that, by reason of age, insanity, drunkenness or otherwise, such person was legally incapable of forming a criminal intent.
(c) In determining whether to make an order under this section, the Office of Victim Services or, on review, a victim compensation commissioner shall consider all circumstances determined to be relevant, including, but not limited to, provocation, consent or any other behavior of the victim which directly or indirectly contributed to such victim's injury or death, the extent of the victim's cooperation in investigating the application and the extent of the victim's cooperation with law enforcement agencies in their efforts to apprehend and prosecute the offender, and any other relevant matters.
(d) An order may be made under this section whether or not any person is prosecuted or convicted of any offense arising out of such act.
(e) In determining the amount of compensation to be allowed, the Office of Victim Services or, on review, a victim compensation commissioner, shall take into consideration any amounts that the applicant has received or is eligible to receive from any other source or sources, including, but not limited to, payments from state and municipal agencies, insurance benefits, and workers' compensation awards, as a result of the incident or offense giving rise to the application. For the purposes of this section, life insurance benefits received by the applicant shall not be taken into consideration by the Office of Victim Services or a victim compensation commissioner. In a case involving circumstances under which a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse, or a claimant in such a case, believes that the dissemination of treatment information associated with a health insurance claim would cause undue harm, the Office of Victim Services may waive the consideration of health insurance as a collateral source.
(f) Payments shall be made in a manner to be determined by the Office of Victim Services, including, but not limited to, lump sum or periodic payments. If an award is not claimed by the applicant within forty-five days after notice of the award, the Office of Victim Services may administratively close such award or may order payments from such award to health care providers or victim service providers and administratively close any remaining amount of such award.
(P.A. 78-261, S. 8, 17; P.A. 80-90; P.A. 82-397, S. 1, 7; P.A. 87-554, S. 7; P.A. 93-310, S. 7, 32; P.A. 95-175, S. 5; P.A. 02-132, S. 79; P.A. 15-85, S. 22; P.A. 17-99, S. 25.)
History: P.A. 80-90 amended Subsec. (a)(3) to include payments to victim's estate; P.A. 82-397 deleted references to “incurred expenses” associated with injury or death in Subsec. (a), referring instead to “pecuniary loss” in both instances, added provision re extent of victim's cooperation with board and law enforcement agencies in Subsec. (c), restated Subsec. (e) and added specific reference to payments from state and municipal agencies, insurance benefits and workers' compensation awards and added Subsec. (f) re method of payment; P.A. 87-554 changed “board” to “commission” and amended Subsec. (a) by adding “including any child of a homicide victim who was killed by the other parent, provided the proceeds of any payment of compensation shall be placed in a trust fund for the benefit of any such child until such child or children reach the age of eighteen”; P.A. 93-310 changed “commission” to “office of victim services, or on review a victim compensation commissioner”, made technical changes, and in Subsec. (f) changed “commission” to “office of victim services”, eliminated annuities or deposits in accounts held in trust for applicant and added provision permitting vacation of award if not claimed within 45 days, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-175 amended Subsec. (c) to delete “need for financial aid” as factor to be considered; P.A. 02-132 amended Subsec. (f) by adding provisions re order of payments to health care providers or victim service providers from unclaimed award and making technical changes; P.A. 15-85 amended Subsec. (e) by substituting “health insurance benefits” for “insurance benefits”, adding provision re Office of Victim Services or victim compensation commissioner not to consider life insurance benefits received by applicant, and making technical changes; P.A. 17-99 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “person is injured” with “person suffers a personal injury”, replacing reference to Sec. 54-233 with reference to Sec. 54-218, replacing “maintenance of the victim” with “care of the victim” in Subdiv. (2), adding Subdiv. (4) re person who suffered pecuniary loss due to crime scene cleanup, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing reference to Sec. 54-233 with reference to Sec. 54-218, amended Subsec. (d) by deleting provision re application by prosecuting authority to suspend proceeding on ground that prosecution for offense arising out of act has commenced or is imminent, amended Subsec. (e) by replacing “health insurance benefits” with “insurance benefits” and adding provision re waiver of consideration of health insurance as collateral source, amended Subsec. (f) by replacing “vacate” with “administratively close”, and made technical changes.