Senate Bill 36 passed the Ohio Senate unanimously in March and is now before the House Criminal Justice Committee. Michael Rodgers, the attorney general’s director of policy and legislation, recently testified in support of the bill.
“Over the years, changes were made to the program that limited our ability to assist some victims of crime,” he said in prepared testimony.
SB 36 would reduce the lookback period on disqualifying criminal convictions from 10 years to five, eliminate the rule disqualifying victims in possession of drugs when they were victimized, and expand the definition of victim to include family members who witness or arrive at a crime scene.
“SB 36 ensures our office will have enhanced opportunities to serve families in their darkest hour,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said he is working with bill sponsors on two amendments. One would clarify that assistance paid through the program would be suspended if the recipient becomes incarcerated.
The other would restore an application deadline to the program, possibly of three years — longer for child victims — with an exception giving the office broad discretion to allow applications beyond that if good cause is shown.
“While it may sound counterintuitive, we think having a clearly defined statute of limitations will benefit victims by encouraging them to file for benefits sooner when it is easier for us to establish their eligibility,” said AG’s office spokesman Luke Sullivan.
He said they were working with lawmakers to include a provision extending the statute of limitations retroactively when the bill passes.
“Notably, this provision would help those Oregon District victims who were denied for those reasons which prompted this legislation,” he said.
Survivor: ‘Getting shot is very expensive’
Nineteen claims from the Oregon District were denied. The family of Derrick Fudge, a Springfield man who was killed in the 2019 mass shooting, was denied help with funeral expenses because of a 2010 felony drug charge.
Ohio’s victims compensation program provides financial assistance to victims of violent crime to pay for things such as medical and funeral expenses. It is funded mostly by drivers license reinstatement fees and court costs paid by people accused of crimes.
Alayna Young was shot in the leg in the Oregon District. She was denied financial aid from the program because her blood test at the hospital found amphetamines in her system. She says they are from a prescription drug.
Program rules deny aid to any victim engaged in a felony, and consider non-prescription drugs in the bloodstream to be possession. This has led to the families of women who were sex trafficked or killed reportedly being denied aid because their captors gave them illicit drugs.
Contacted last week, Young said she didn’t appeal the denial because it felt like the state made it too difficult. The more than $60,000 in medical bills she still owes from the incident are going to collections.
“There’s really no way that I’m going to be able to pay this off, really ever,” said Young, who works at Blind Bob’s.
She said the proposed reforms sound great.
“I hope that they make it as easy as possible for anyone who has been denied due to the felony restrictions and things like that, I hope they make it easy for them to get the help now because they should have been able to get that money all along and there’s a good chance they are still struggling financially,” she said.
“Getting shot is very expensive.”
About the Author
