Rhode Island § 12-25-22 - Criminal Injuries Compensation

§ 12-25-22. Limitations upon awarding compensation.

(a) Actions for compensation under this chapter shall be commenced within three (3) years after the date of the injury or death, and no compensation shall be awarded for an injury or death resulting from a crime that was not reported to the appropriate law enforcement authority within fifteen (15) days of its occurrence; provided, that the office shall have the authority to allow a claim that was not reported pursuant to this section when a victim of a sexual assault receives a medical forensic examination within fifteen (15) days of the crime, when the victim or secondary victim was below the age of eighteen (18) years of age, or of unsound mind, or for good cause shown.

(b) No compensation shall be awarded under this chapter to the victim, or in the case of death to dependent relatives or to the legal representative, in a total amount in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) plus any attorney fees awarded upon appeal to the treasurer or to the superior court pursuant to § 12-25-25.

(c) No compensation shall be awarded under this chapter to a secondary victim in a total amount in excess of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500).

(d) No compensation shall be awarded when the office, in its discretion, determines that unjust enrichment to or on behalf of the offender would result. Compensation under this chapter shall not be awarded to any victim or dependent relative or legal representative if the award would directly or indirectly inure to the benefit of the offender.

(e) No interest shall be included in or added to an award of compensation under this chapter.

(f) When the plaintiff is the victim’s estate, it shall only be awarded compensation for the victim’s actual medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the victim or his or her estate is not compensated by any other source and for the loss of support to the dependents of the victim.