Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fiscal 2010
Annual Report
Released January 7, 2011
January 7, 2011
Dear Colleagues,
Since taking office, one of my priorities has been to protect and preserve the Crime
Victims Reparations Fund, which compensates innocent victims of violent crime for economic
losses suffered as a result of the crimes committed against them. The amount of money available
in the fund had declined by tens of millions of dollars in recent years and was on a projected path
to insolvency by 2011. Today, I am proud to say that our focused efforts over the past two years
have stabilized the fund, and it increased in value in 2010 for the first time in five years. Much
remains to be done, however, to ensure that it will survive to assist future Ohio crime victims.
The essential problem is that expenses and spending had been increasing while revenues
had not. During my tenure as Attorney General, we exerted closer control over spending, which
we have managed to cut by more than 15%. The fund’s revenues are derived primarily from
court costs, but also from federal grants and drivers’ license reinstatement fees, all of which are
less predictable and not subject to control by my office. (No tax money goes into the fund.) As
expenses charged to the fund rose dramatically in the past decade, the court costs assessed per
infraction in individual cases have not been updated by the Legislature, and the total amount of
court costs paid by those committing crimes, though fluctuating from year to year, has declined
substantially in recent years. After working with the fund for the past two years, I believe the
Legislature should consider approving an increase in court costs to ensure the fund’s viability.
This report covers fiscal 2010 (from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010) and fulfills the legal
requirement for an annual report to be submitted to the Governor and General Assembly. It
describes the current state of the fund and how it helps victims and survivors.
Since its inception, the Crime Victims Reparations Fund has paid more than $307 million
in compensation to victims of violent crime across Ohio. During fiscal 2010, the fund received
7,438 applications for compensation and paid out more than $10.6 million to assist 4,334 victims
or their families with medical treatment, lost wages and other costs.
Each year, Ohio’s Crime Victims Reparations Fund helps thousands of innocent victims
across the state, and we must take action to preserve it. Because the fund is supported mainly by
court costs paid by criminal perpetrators, rather than taxpayer dollars, arriving at a solution need
not be contentious. For years, the fund has borne the burden of unfunded legislative initiatives.
Now is the time to ensure it will remain available to help victims for years to come.
Sincerely,
Richard Cordray
Ohio Attorney General
APPLICATIONS AND AWARDS
The Crime Victims Compensation Program received 7,438 original and supplemental
applications in fiscal 2010 (Fig. 1). Of those, 4,334 or 58 percent were approved. The average
award totaled $2,465. The number of applications was down about 7 percent in fiscal 2010, and
the percentage resulting in an award was up about 4.5 percent.
Victims of assault received a higher number of awards than victims of any other crime (Fig. 2).
Domestic violence, sexual assault and robbery victims followed in terms of frequency of awards.
Here is a look at the number of original and supplemental claims received and other statistics
(Fig. 3).
SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINATION PROGRAM (SAFE)
The Ohio Crime Victims Reparations Fund reimburses hospitals’ costs for forensic exams
performed after a suspected sexual assault. The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination program
(SAFE) ensures that victims of sexual assault are not held responsible for medical costs that
accompany this traumatic event and that evidence needed to prosecute offenders is collected
properly. In 2010, the reparations fund paid out $3,427,676 to cover the cost of 6,443
examinations.
SUBROGATION
The Attorney General’s Office has a statutory duty to hold offenders financially accountable for
their crimes. Subrogation is the act of substituting one creditor for another. In the case of crime
victim compensation, it is the attempt to collect any money due a victim by an offender or other
source. The Subrogation Unit’s collection efforts against offenders, insurance companies and
other liable parties allow the Crime Victims Reparations Fund to be reimbursed funds already
expended on behalf of the victim. The accompanying graph shows the results of the Subrogation
Unit’s efforts in recent years (Fig. 4).
Subrogation collections totaled $517,266 in fiscal 2010. The largest portion ($273,617) was
obtained through settlements.
ATTORNEY FEES
Attorney fees may be compensated by two separate means under the Crime Victims
Compensation Statute.
First, applicants who wish to seek the assistance of an attorney in filing for compensation or in
appealing a decision of the Attorney General’s Office may do so. However, attorneys who work
with applicants are not permitted to bill them for services. Rather, attorneys must submit their
bills to the Attorney General’s Office for payment at a rate of $60 per hour. This payment does
not reduce any award granted to the victim. The attorney fees paid out for assistance with
compensation applications in fiscal 2010 totaled $302,320 (Fig. 5).
Second, an attorney who assists a claimant with successfully obtaining a restraining order,
custody order or other protection order to physically separate the victim from the offender may
receive up to $60 per hour and $30 per hour for travel. (Prior to October 2009, the legally
allowable amount was $150 per hour for services and travel.) The total paid to attorneys who
helped victims gain protection orders was $1,364,468 (Fig. 6).
As the figures and graph show, the amount the Ohio Crime Victims Reparations Fund has paid
attorneys who have assisted with such orders increased greatly in recent years. In fiscal 2010, the
amount has declined due to changes in the law regarding attorney compensation.
Ohio Attorney General's Office
Crime Victims Assistance and Prevention
Fund 4020-Reparations
Statement of Receipts, Disbursements, and Changes in Cash Balance
For the Year Ended June 30, 2010
Notes:
(1)
In August 2009, the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) transferred $1,300,258 from the Reparations Fund (4020) to the Court of Claims' Victims of Crime
Fund (5K20), in accordance with Section 2743.531, Ohio Revised Code.
During fiscal year 2010, the Court of Claims paid the following administrative costs from moneys originally transferred from Fund 4020.
Compensation for:
Court Personnel.............................................................................................. $ 765,055.72
Judges............................................................................................................. 6,815.82
Panel of Commissioners-Crime
Victims Compensation Program................................................................. 306,898.41
Other Administrative Costs............................................................................ 147,577.57
Total.......................................................................................... $ 1,226,347.52
Appendix A
Awards by County
County # of Awards Total County # of Awards Total
Adams 4 $ 4,065.56 Licking 51 $ 92,011.24
Allen 24 $ 30,564.09 Logan 6 $ 6,550.84
Ashland 11 $ 10,934.70 Lorain 31 $ 111,476.21
Ashtabula 17 $ 11,628.61 Lucas 129 $ 181,078.10
Athens 8 $ 7,903.16 Madison 5 $ 25,874.42
Auglaize 6 $ 12,773.39 Mahoning 56 $ 100,870.26
Belmont 6 $ 13,158.07 Marion 11 $ 20,893.11
Brown 2 $ 8,111.01 Medina 14 $ 30,135.48
Butler 72 $ 210,940.68 Meigs 3 $ 23,069.14
Carroll 9 $ 6,432.07 Mercer 11 $ 6,851.59
Champaign 5 $ 6,178.37 Miami 19 $ 14,694.86
Clark 40 $ 86,279.42 Monroe 4 $ 1,465.69
Clermont 8 $ 21,433.25 Montgomery 140 $ 380,808.27
Clinton 5 $ 5,009.30 Morgan 9 $ 42,144.52
Columbiana 12 $ 20,124.59 Morrow 9 $ 12,470.73
Coshocton 2 $ 1,247.12 Muskingum 9 $ 18,807.74
Crawford 5 $ 13,031.30 Noble 1 $ 2,415.67
Cuyahoga 377 $ 1,010,142.28 Ottawa 8 $ 8,529.20
Darke 11 $ 37,839.42 Paulding 2 $ 1,170.14
Defiance 8 $ 1,466.47 Perry 8 $ 19,505.47
Delaware 28 $ 51,958.54 Pickaway 6 $ 13,896.34
Erie 16 $ 37,057.52 Pike 7 $ 15,226.38
Fairfield 32 $ 50,252.62 Portage 21 $ 39,683.22
Fayette 11 $ 51,678.29 Preble 2 $ 142.75
Franklin 382 $ 764,584.49 Putnam 6 $ 1,202.00
Fulton 7 $ 31,828.33 Richland 33 $ 143,758.17
Gallia 6 $ 7,108.93 Ross 20 $ 107,873.12
Geauga 11 $ 100,141.55 Sandusky 9 $ 13,122.64
Greene 18 $ 92,381.29 Scioto 20 $ 49,087.72
Guernsey 4 $ 6,135.15 Seneca 14 $ 20,694.34
Hamilton 199 $ 388,562.01 Shelby 4 $ 2,417.38
Hancock 16 $ 22,242.72 Stark 87 $ 261,782.88
Hardin 2 $ 10,773.22 Summit 131 $ 264,772.00
Harrison 0 $ - Trumbull 40 $ 82,362.64
Henry 3 $ 2,025.70 Tuscarawas 16 $ 10,726.24
Highland 4 $ 45,265.75 Union 13 $ 16,559.63
Hocking 5 $ 1,878.19 Van Wert 3 $ 431.79
Holmes 9 $ 8,869.65 Vinton 5 $ 885.19
Huron 11 $ 5,613.08 Warren 16 $ 14,292.04
Jackson 10 $ 1,703.31 Washington 6 $ 40,268.28
Jefferson 7 $ 2,995.30 Wayne 13 $ 9,014.67
Knox 9 $ 40,248.89 Williams 6 $ 44,761.94
Lake 48 $ 61,134.00 Wood 18 $ 17,604.24
Lawrence 8 $ 10,388.77 Wyandot 4 $ 16,962.29