595.020. Eligibility for compensation. - Missouri Statutes

Eligibility for compensation.

595.020. 1. Except as hereinafter provided, the following personsshall be eligible for compensation pursuant to sections 595.010 to 595.075:

(1) A victim of a crime;

(2) In the case of a sexual assault victim:

(a) A relative of the victim requiring counseling in order to betterassist the victim in his recovery; and

(3) In the case of the death of the victim as a direct result of thecrime:

(a) A dependent of the victim;

(b) Any member of the family who legally assumes the obligation, orwho pays the medical or burial expenses incurred as a direct resultthereof; and

(c) A survivor of the victim requiring counseling as a direct resultof the death of the victim.

2. An offender or an accomplice of an offender shall in no case beeligible to receive compensation with respect to a crime committed by theoffender. No victim or dependent shall be denied compensation solelybecause he is a relative of the offender or was living with the offender asa family or household member at the time of the injury or death. However,the department may award compensation to a victim or dependent who is arelative, family or household member of the offender only if the departmentcan reasonably determine the offender will receive no substantial economicbenefit or unjust enrichment from the compensation.

3. No compensation of any kind may be made to a victim or intervenorinjured while confined in any federal, state, county, or municipal jail,prison or other correctional facility, including house arrest or electronicmonitoring.

4. No compensation of any kind may be made to a victim who has beenfinally adjudicated and found guilty, in a criminal prosecution under thelaws of this state, of two felonies within the past ten years, of which oneor both involves illegal drugs or violence. The department may waive thisrestriction if it determines that the interest of justice would be servedotherwise.

5. In the case of a claimant who is not otherwise ineligible pursuantto subsection 4 of this section, who is incarcerated as a result of aconviction of a crime not related to the incident upon which the claim isbased at the time of application, or at any time following the filing ofthe application:

(1) The department shall suspend all proceedings and payments untilsuch time as the claimant is released from incarceration;

(2) The department shall notify the applicant at the time theproceedings are suspended of the right to reactivate the claim within sixmonths of release from incarceration. The notice shall be deemedsufficient if mailed to the applicant at the applicant's last knownaddress;

(3) The claimant shall file an application to request that the casebe reactivated not later than six months after the date the claimant isreleased from incarceration. Failure to file such request within thesix-month period shall serve as a bar to any recovery.

6. Victims of crime who are not residents of the state of Missourimay be compensated only when federal funds are available for that purpose.Compensation for nonresident victims shall terminate when federal funds forthat purpose are no longer available.

7. A Missouri resident who suffers personal physical injury or, inthe case of death, a dependent of the victim or any member of the familywho legally assumes the obligation, or who pays the medical or burialexpenses incurred as a direct result thereof, in another state, possessionor territory of the United States may make application for compensation inMissouri if:

(1) The victim of the crime would be compensated if the crime hadoccurred in the state of Missouri;

(2) The place that the crime occurred is a state, possession orterritory of the United States, or location outside of the United Statesthat is covered and defined in 18 U.S.C. Section 2331, that does not havea crime victims' compensation program for which the victim is eligible andwhich provides at least the same compensation that the victim would havereceived if he had been injured in Missouri.

(L. 1981 H.B. 41, et al. § 3, A.L. 1985 H.B. 715, A.L. 1989 H.B. 502, et al. merged with S.B. 138, A.L. 1990 H.B. 974, A.L. 1993 S.B. 19, A.L. 1994 S.B. 554, A.L. 1997 S.B. 430, A.L. 2009 S.B. 338)