Provides that damages for mental pain and anguish may be included in claims filed with the crime victims board; applies to all claims filed with such board on and after the effective date of this legislation.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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4353
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 3, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KOON, HOOPER, ORTIZ, ZEBROWSKI -- Multi-Sponsored
by -- M. of A. ABBATE, BRADLEY, DINOWITZ, P. RIVERA, SCHIMMINGER,
TOWNS, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to awards by the crime
victims board
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 631 of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 74 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. No award shall be made unless the board or board member, as the
5 case may be, finds that (a) a crime was committed, (b) such crime
6 directly resulted in personal physical injury to or the exacerbation of
7 a preexisting disability, or condition, or death of, the victim, and (c)
8 criminal justice agency records show that such crime was promptly
9 reported to the proper authorities; and in no case may an award be made
10 where the criminal justice agency records show that such report was made
11 more than one week after the occurrence of such crime unless the board,
12 for good cause shown, finds the delay to have been justified; provided,
13 however, in cases involving an alleged sex offense as contained in arti-
14 cle one hundred thirty of the penal law or incest as defined in section
15 255.25, 255.26 or 255.27 of the penal law or labor trafficking as
16 defined in section 135.35 of the penal law or sex trafficking as defined
17 in section 230.34 of the penal law or an offense chargeable as a family
18 offense as described in section eight hundred twelve of the family court
19 act or section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law, the criminal
20 justice agency report need only be made within a reasonable time consid-
21 ering all the circumstances, including the victim's physical, emotional
22 and mental condition and family situation. For the purposes of this
23 subdivision, "criminal justice agency" shall include, but not be limited
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01627-01-9
A. 4353 2
1 to, a police department, a district attorney's office, and any other
2 governmental agency having responsibility for the enforcement of the
3 criminal laws of the state provided, however, that in cases involving
4 such sex offense a criminal justice agency shall also mean a family
5 court, a governmental agency responsible for child and/or adult protec-
6 tive services pursuant to title six of article six of the social
7 services law and/or title one of article nine-B of the social services
8 law, and any medical facility established under the laws of the state
9 that provides a forensic physical examination for victims of rape and
10 sexual assault. As used in this subdivision, "personal physical injury"
11 shall include, in addition to its usual meaning, mental pain and anguish
12 related to the crime.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
14 claims filed with the crime victims board on and after such effective
15 date.
