An Act To Increase Payments to Victims of Crimes
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 0632
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: STEVENS, PJOTTI, SIMPSON, DILL, HASKELL, HUNT, MAGNAN, WELSH
Amends: 5 MRSA §3360, 5 MRSA §3360-M

FIRST REGULAR SJ£SSION-2009 
Legislative Document 
'No. 632 
H.P.446 
House of Representatives, February 19, 2009 
An Act To Increase Payments to Victims of Crimes 
Submitted by the Department of the Attorney General pursuant to' Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative STEVENS of Bangor. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representative PJOTTI of Unity, Senator SIMPSON of Androscoggin and 
Represent'!tives: CAIN of Orono, DILL of Cape Elizabeth; DOSTIE of Sabattus, HASKELL 
of Portland, HUNT of Buxton, MAGNAN of Stockton Springs,WELSH of Rockport. 
Printed on recycled pLlpcr 
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,Be it enaCted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3360, suh-§2-A is enactedto read: 
2-A. Catastrophic injury. "Catastrophic injury" means an extremely serious injury 
that may result in permanent disability or a long-lasting medical condition. 
Sec. 2. 5 MR.SA §3360, sub-§4; as amended by PL 2003, c. 243, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
4. Eligible expenses and losses .. "Eligible expenses and losses" means expenses and 
losses resulting from a personal injury sustained by an individual as a. direct result of a 
crime specified in subsection 3 and may include medical· and medically related expenses, 
psychological or mental health counseling expenses, lost wages aruI-~ funeral aruI-~ burial 
and other homicide-related expenses and travel expenses and loss of income of a claimant. 
or family member for providing or obtaining care for the personal injury of a minor or 
incapacitated victim. "Eligible expenses and losses" may include costs of eyeglasses, 
hearing aids, dentures or other prosthetic devices taken, lost, destroyed or damaged as a 
result of the crime, costs to repair eF~ replace or install locks or security devices aruI-; costs 
of crime scene cleanup and security deposits. Expenses and losses claimed under this 
subsection must be expenses or losses actually and reasonably incurred. 
Sec. 3. 5 MR.SA §3360-B, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 378, §5, is amended 
to read: 
3. Eligibility for payment of mental health treatment for family members. The 
board may award compensation for the benefit of a surviving family or household 
member of a person who dies or suffers catastrophic injury as a direct result of a crime, a 
family or household member who witnessed a crime or a family or household member of 
a sexual assault victim ,¥he is a miner for unreimbursed mental health treatment expenses 
directly related to the crime. 
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §3360-M, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 240, Pt. WW, §2, 
is further amended to read: 
2. Forensic examination; forensic examiner training and education. The board 
shall determine by rule· what a forensic examination may include for purposes of 
payment. 
An examination must include at· least all services directly related to the 
gathering of forensic evidence and related testing and .treatment for pregnancy and 
sexually transmitted diseases. The board shall pay a licensed hospital or licensed health 
care practitioner the actual cost of the forensic examination up to a maximum of ~ 
$750. 
The cost of sexual assault forensic examiner training and education provided by the· 
sexual assault forensic examiner program must be paid from the Victims' Compensation 
Fund in an amount t4at may not exceed $50,000 per year. 
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SUMMARY 
This bill amends the Victims' Compensation laws to add other homicide-related 
expenses, expenses incidental to obtaining care for personal injury, the cost of security 
deposits and the cost to install locks or security devices to the definition of "eligible 
expenses and losses." The bill also gives the Victims' Compensation Board authority to 
award compensation for unreimbursed mental health treatment expenses directly related 
to a crime for the benefit of a surviving family or household' member of a person who 
suffers catastrophic injury as a direct result of the crime. 
The bill also defines 
"catastrophic injury." The bill also adjusts the payment for forensic examinations for 
alleged victims of gross sexual assault out of the Victims' Compensation Fund from $500 
to $750, in order to better reflect the cost of performing the examinations.