CHAPTER 51
HOUSE BILL No. 2789
An Act concerning crime victims; relating to
compensation and allowance expense from
the crime victims compensation board; relating
to the filing of applications; amending
K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 74-7301 and 74-7305 and
repealing the existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 74-7301 is hereby amended to
read as
follows: 74-7301. As used in this act:
(a) ``Allowance expense'' means reasonable charges incurred
for rea-
sonably needed products, services and accommodations, including
those
for medical care, rehabilitation, rehabilitative occupational
training and
other remedial treatment and care and for the replacement of
items of
clothing or bedding which were seized for evidence. Such
term includes
a total charge not in excess of $2,000
$5,000 for expenses in any way
related to funeral, cremation or burial; but such term shall not
include
that portion of a charge for a room in a hospital, clinic,
convalescent or
nursing home or any other institution engaged in providing nursing
care
and related services, in excess of a reasonable and customary
charge for
semi-private accommodations, unless other accommodations are
medi-
cally required.
(b) ``Board'' means the crime victims compensation board
established
under K.S.A. 74-7303 and amendments thereto.
(c) ``Claimant'' means any of the following persons claiming
compen-
sation under this act: A victim; a dependent of a deceased victim;
a third
person other than a collateral source; or an authorized person
acting on
behalf of any of them.
(d) ``Collateral source'' means a source of benefits or
advantages for
economic loss otherwise reparable under this act which the victim
or
claimant has received, or which is readily available to the victim
or claim-
ant, from:
(1) The offender;
(2) the government of the United States or any agency thereof,
a state
or any of its political subdivisions or an instrumentality or two
or more
states, unless the law providing for the benefits or advantages
makes them
excess or secondary to benefits under this act;
(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
which the victim sustained because of the criminally injurious
conduct;
or
(8) a contract providing prepaid hospital and other health
care serv-
ices or benefits for disability.
(e) ``Criminally injurious conduct'' means conduct that: (1)
(A) Oc-
curs or is attempted in this state or occurs to a person whose
domicile is
in Kansas who is the victim of a violent crime which occurs in
another
state, possession, or territory of the United States of America may
make
an application for compensation if:
(i) The crimes would be compensable had it occurred in the
state of
Kansas; and
(ii) the places the crimes occurred are states, possessions or
territories
of the United States of America not having eligible crime victim
com-
pensation programs;
(B) poses a substantial threat or personal injury or death;
and
(C) either 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;
or
(2) is an act of terrorism, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2331,
committed
outside of the United States against a person whose domicile is in
Kansas.
Such term shall not include conduct arising out of the ownership,
main-
tenance or use of a motor vehicle, except for violations of K.S.A.
8-1567
and amendments thereto, or violations of municipal ordinances
prohib-
iting the acts prohibited by that statute, or violations of K.S.A.
8-1602,
21-3404, 21-3405 and 21-3414 and amendments thereto or when
such
conduct was intended to cause personal injury or death.
(f) ``Dependent'' means a natural person wholly or partially
depend-
ent upon the victim for care or support, and includes a child of
the victim
born after the victim's death.
(g) ``Dependent's economic loss'' means loss after decedent's
death
of contributions of things of economic value to the decedent's
depend-
ents, not including services they would have received from the
decedent
if the decedent had not suffered the fatal injury, less expenses of
the
dependents avoided by reason of decedent's death.
(h) ``Dependent's replacement services loss'' means loss
reasonably
incurred by dependents after decedent's death in obtaining ordinary
and
necessary services in lieu of those the decedent would have
performed
for their benefit if the decedent had not suffered the fatal
injury, less
expenses of the dependents avoided by reason of decedent's death
and
not subtracted in calculating dependent's economic loss.
(i) ``Economic loss'' means economic detriment consisting only
of al-
lowable expense, work loss, replacement services loss and, if
injury causes
death, dependent's economic loss and dependent's replacement
service
loss. Noneconomic detriment is not loss, but economic detriment is
loss
although caused by pain and suffering or physical impairment.
(j) ``Noneconomic detriment'' means pain, suffering,
inconvenience,
physical impairment and nonpecuniary damage.
(k) ``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
self
or family, if such person had not been injured.
(l) ``Work loss'' means loss of income from work the injured
person
would have performed if such person had not been injured, and
expenses
reasonably incurred by such person in obtaining services in lieu of
those
the person would have performed for income, reduced by any
income
from substitute work actually performed by such person or by
income
such person would have earned in available appropriate substitute
work
that the person was capable of performing but unreasonably failed
to
undertake.
(m) ``Victim'' means a person who suffers personal injury or
death as
a result of: (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; or (4) an act of terrorism, as
defined in 18
U.S.C. 2331, committed outside of the United States.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 74-7305 is hereby amended to
read as
follows: 74-7305. (a) An application for compensation shall be made
in
the manner and form prescribed by the board.
(b) Compensation may not be awarded unless an application has
been
filed with the board within one year two
years of the reporting of the
incident to law enforcement officials if the victim was less than
16 years
of age and the injury or death is the result of any of the
following crimes:
(1) Indecent liberties with a child as defined in K.S.A. 21-3503
and
amendments thereto; (2) aggravated indecent liberties with a child
as
defined in K.S.A. 21-3504 and amendments thereto; (3) aggravated
crim-
inal sodomy as defined in K.S.A. 21-3506 and amendments thereto;
(4)
enticement of a child as defined in K.S.A. 21-3509 and
amendments
thereto; (5) indecent solicitation of a child as defined in K.S.A.
21-3510
and amendments thereto; (6) aggravated indecent solicitation of a
child
as defined in K.S.A. 21-3511 and amendments thereto; (7) sexual
exploi-
tation of a child as defined in K.S.A. 21-3516 and amendments
thereto;
or (8) aggravated incest as defined in K.S.A. 21-3603 and
amendments
thereto. Compensation for mental health counseling may be
awarded, if
a claim is filed within two years of testimony, to a claimant
who is, or
will be, required to testify in a sexually violent predator
commitment,
pursuant to article 29a of chapter 59 of the Kansas Statutes
Annotated,
and amendments thereto, of an offender who victimized the
claimant or
the victim on whose behalf the claim is made. For all other
incidents of
criminally injurious conduct, compensation may not be awarded
unless
the claim has been filed with the board within one
year two years after
the injury or death upon which the claim is based. Compensation
may
not be awarded to a claimant who was the offender or an accomplice
of
the offender and may not be awarded to another person if the
award
would unjustly benefit the offender or accomplice.
(c) Compensation otherwise payable to a claimant shall be
dimin-
ished:
(1) To the extent, if any, that the economic loss upon which
the claim-
ant's claim is based is recouped from other persons, including
collateral
sources; and
(2) to the extent, if any, that the board deems reasonable
because of
the contributory misconduct of the claimant or of a victim through
whom
the claimant claims.
(d) Compensation may be awarded only if the board finds that
unless
the claimant is awarded compensation the claimant will suffer
financial
stress as the result of economic loss otherwise reparable. A
claimant suf-
fers financial stress only if the claimant cannot maintain the
claimant's
customary level of health, safety and education for self and
dependents
without undue financial hardship. In making its determination of
financial
stress, the board shall consider all relevant factors,
including:
(1) The number of claimant's dependents;
(2) the usual living expenses of the claimant and the
claimant's family;
(3) the special needs of the claimant and the claimant's
dependents;
(4) the claimant's income and potential earning capacity;
and
(5) the claimant's resources.
(e) Compensation may not be awarded unless the criminally
injurious
conduct resulting in injury or death was reported to a law
enforcement
officer within 72 hours after its occurrence or the board finds
there was
good cause for the failure to report within that time.
(f) The board, upon finding that the claimant or victim has
not fully
cooperated with appropriate law enforcement agencies, may deny,
with-
draw or reduce an award of compensation.
(g) Except in K.S.A. 21-3602 or 21-3603 or cases of sex
offenses es-
tablished in article 35 of chapter 21, of the Kansas Statutes
Annotated,
and amendments thereto, compensation may not be awarded if the
eco-
nomic loss is less than $100.
(h) Compensation for work loss, replacement services loss,
depend-
ent's economic loss and dependent's replacement service loss may
not
exceed $200 $400 per week or actual
loss, whichever is less.
(i) Compensation payable to a victim and to all other
claimants sus-
taining economic loss because of injury to or death of that victim
may not
exceed $25,000 in the aggregate.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 74-7301 and 74-7305 are hereby
repealed.
Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from
and after its
publication in the statute book.
Approved April 3, 1998
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