The Crime Victims’ Compensation Program may provide assistance to victims of violent crime for related expenses that cannot be reimbursed by insurance or other sources. The Office of the Attorney General- Texas administers this program.
The eligibility requirements for Crime Victims’ Compensation Program benefits are that you (or the victim) must be a resident of Texas, a United States resident who is victimized while in Texas, or a Texas resident victimized in another state or country that does not have a crime victim compensation fund or certain other individuals. The crime must be reported to the appropriate state or local public safety or law enforcement agency within a reasonable period of time. Finally, the victim or claimant must cooperate with law enforcement officials in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
A wide array of expenses may be covered under the Crime Victim’s Compensation Program including reasonable and necessary funeral expenses, loss of earnings as a result of the disability of the victim, psychiatric care/counseling, replacement of property seized as evidence or rendered unusable by investigation as well as reasonable attorney’s fees for assistance in filing the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program application.
You will be asked to fill out basic contact information regarding yourself as well as the charges leveled against the person who victimized you. Additional information about any disability suffered by you as a result of the crime and your employment information will be requested. If you are requesting assistance regarding crime scene clean-up or reimbursement for property seized you will need to detail the extent to which your property was damaged and an estimate of the value of the property in question.
