HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  HB 1392

             As Reported By House Committee On:

               Criminal Justice & Corrections

Title:  An act relating to the crime victims' compensation program.

Brief Description:  Enhancing crime victims' compensation.

Sponsors:  Representatives Ballasiotes, Costa, Radcliff, O'Brien, Kessler, Blalock, Cody, Murray, Cole, Morris, Tokuda, Conway, Skinner, Johnson, Linville, Scott, Keiser, Cooper, Gombosky, Ogden and Anderson.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Criminal Justice & Corrections:  2/7/97, 2/12/97 [DPS].

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CORRECTIONS

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 13 members:  Representatives Ballasiotes, Chairman; Benson, Vice Chairman; Koster, Vice Chairman; Quall, Ranking Minority Member; O'Brien, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Blalock; Cairnes; Delvin; Dickerson; Hickel; Mitchell; Robertson and Sullivan.

Staff:  Yvonne Walker (786-7841).

Background:  The Crime Victims Act of 1973 established Washington=s Crime Victims= Compensation Program (CVCP) to provide benefits to innocent victims of criminal acts.  The Department of Labor and Industries was assigned authority for administering the program because benefits available to crime victims under this program were originally based on benefits paid to injured workers under the Industrial Insurance Act.

Confidentiality of Records.  Under the Public Records Act,  numerous records relating to personal privacy or vital governmental interests are sealed from public inspection and copying.  It is unclear, however, whether this provision applies to records relating to appeals of crime victim=s compensation claims.

Unspent Appropriations.  Unspent appropriations for the CVCP remaining at the end of the fiscal biennium are reverted to the public safety and education account.  The unexpended balance in the public safety and education account is available for expenditure in the next fiscal period.

Claimants Access to Records.  A representative of a claimant may have access to their claimant=s file, however, a claimant may not have access to their own file.

Summary of Substitute Bill: Confidentiality of Records.  An expressed provision is added to ensure records relating to appeals of crime victims= compensation claims are exempt from public inspection and copying requirements contained in the Public Records Act.

Unspent Appropriations.  Unspent appropriations for the CVCP remaining at the end of the fiscal biennium must be carried forward and used for the CVCP the following fiscal year.  This applies to any amounts up to 15 percent of the total biennial appropriation for the CVCP.

Claimants Access to Records.  Claimants may have access to the information in their own files. 

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:  A provision is added to allow claimants to access information in their own crime victim compensation claim files.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  Current law prohibits the victims from having access to their own files relating to an appeal of crime victim=s compensation claims, however many times the media is able to gain access to these same files.  In the past, several journalists were able to gain access to the files of victims and, as a result, publicized and prolonged an already dramatic, painful experience--an experience most victims are trying to forget.  By sealing crime victim compensation claim appeal files, this provision will not only apply to the media, but also to files where offenders are seeking information for retaliation, as well as cases involving domestic violence, where spouses often try to obtain information on his or her partner.

Most people assume that crime victim appeal records containing personal information are sealed and private, however the current law relating to sealed records is unclear as to whether it applies to records such as these.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Representative Jeralita Costa (pro); Steve Eckstrom, Office of Crime Victim Advocacy; and Kim Holder, Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates (pro).