Session of 1998
HOUSE BILL No. 2822
By Committee on Judiciary
2-4
9
AN ACT concerning victims rights; relating to
victim impact statements;
10 concerning the bill of
rights for victims of crime; amending K.S.A. 1997
11 Supp. 8-1019 and
74-7333 and repealing the existing sections.
12
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
14 Section 1. K.S.A.
1997 Supp. 8-1019 is hereby amended to read as
15 follows: 8-1019. (a) As used in this
section, ``alcohol or drug-related of-
16 fense'' means: (1) A violation of K.S.A.
8-1567, and amendments thereto,
17 or any ordinance of a city or resolution of
a county prohibiting the acts
18 prohibited by that statute; or (2) any
other offense arising out of the
19 operation or attempted operation of a motor
vehicle while under the
20 influence of alcohol or drugs, or both.
21 (b) Prior to the
sentencing of a person convicted of an alcohol or
22 drug-related offense which resulted in
serious bodily injury any injury or
23 property loss to a person or the
death of a person, the court shall cause
24 reasonable attempts to be made to notify
the victim or the victim's family,
25 who shall be given an opportunity to make a
victim impact statement as
26 to the impact of the offense on the
victim's life or the lives of the victim's
27 family members.
28 (c) Any court sentencing
a person convicted of an alcohol or drug-
29 related offense which resulted in personal
injury to a person, the death
30 of a person or injury to a person's
property may require, in addition to
31 any other penalty provided by law, that the
convicted person pay resti-
32 tution as a condition of probation or
parole.
33 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1997
Supp. 74-7333 is hereby amended to read as
34 follows: 74-7333. (a) In order to ensure
the fair and compassionate treat-
35 ment of victims of crime and to increase
the effectiveness of the criminal
36 justice system by affording victims of
crime certain basic rights and con-
37 siderations, victims of crime shall have
the following rights:
38 (1) Victims should be
treated with courtesy, compassion and with
39 respect for their dignity and privacy and
should suffer the minimum of
40 necessary inconvenience from their
involvement with the criminal justice
41 system.
42 (2) Victims should
receive, through formal and informal procedures,
43 prompt and fair redress for the harm which
they have suffered.
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1 (3) Information
regarding the availability of criminal restitution, re-
2 covery of damages in a civil cause of
action, the crime victims compen-
3 sation fund and other remedies and
the mechanisms to obtain such rem-
4 edies should be made available to
victims.
5 (4) Information
should be made available to victims about their par-
6 ticipation in criminal proceedings
and the scheduling, progress and ulti-
7 mate disposition of the
proceedings.
8 (5) The views and
concerns of victims should be ascertained and the
9 appropriate assistance provided
throughout the criminal process.
10 (6) When the personal
interests of victims are affected, the views or
11 concerns of the victim should, when
appropriate and consistent with crim-
12 inal law and procedure, be brought to the
attention of the court.
13 (7) Measures may be
taken when necessary to provide for the safety
14 of victims and their families and to
protect them from intimidation and
15 retaliation.
16 (8) Enhanced training
should be made available to sensitize criminal
17 justice personnel to the needs and concerns
of victims and guidelines
18 should be developed for this purpose.
19 (9) Victims should be
informed of the availability of health and social
20 services and other relevant assistance that
they might continue to receive
21 the necessary medical, psychological and
social assistance through existing
22 programs and services.
23 (10) Victims should
report the crime and cooperate with law enforce-
24 ment authorities.
25 (b) As used in this act,
``victim'' means any person who suffers direct
26 or threatened physical, emotional or
financial harm as the result of the
27 commission or attempted commission of a
crime against such person.
28 (c) As used in this act
and as used in article 15 of section 15 of the
29 Kansas constitution, the term ``crime''
shall not include violations of or-
30 dinances of cities except for violations of
ordinances of cities which pro-
31 hibit acts or omissions: (1) Which
are prohibited by articles 33, 34, 35
32 and 36 of chapter 21 of the Kansas Statutes
Annotated; (2) which are
33 prohibited by K.S.A. 8-1567, and
amendments thereto; (3) which prohib-
34 its alcohol or drug related offenses
which result in injury, death or prop-
35 erty loss to persons; and (4)
as provided in subsection (d).
36 (d) The governing body
of any city which has established a municipal
37 court shall adopt policies which afford the
rights granted to victims of
38 crime pursuant to this act and pursuant to
article 15 of section 15 of the
39 Kansas constitution to victims of ordinance
violations specified in such
40 policies.
41 (e) Nothing in this act
shall be construed as creating a cause of action
42 on behalf of any person against the state,
a county, a municipality or any
43 of their agencies, instrumentalities or
employees responsible for the en-
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1 forcement of rights as provided in
this act.
2 (f) This section
shall be known and may be cited as the bill of rights
3 for victims of crime act.
4
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1019 and 74-7333 are hereby
repealed.
5 Sec. 4. This
act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
6 publication in the statute book.
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