0001| AN ACT
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0002| RELATING TO CRIME VICTIMS REPARATION; AMENDING ELIGIBILITY
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0003| REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONS WHO SEEK REPARATION AWARDS; AMENDING SECTIONS
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0004| OF THE CRIME VICTIMS REPARATION ACT.
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0005|
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0006| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
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0007| Section 1. Section 31-22-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter
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0008| 325, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:
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0009| "31-22-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Crime Victims Reparation
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0010| Act:
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0011| A. "child" means an unmarried person who is under the age
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0012| of majority and includes a stepchild and an adopted child;
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0013| B. "collateral source" includes benefits for economic loss
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0014| otherwise reparable under the Crime Victims Reparation Act which the
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0015| victim or claimant has received or which are readily available to him
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0016| from:
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0017| (1) the offender;
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0018| (2) social security, medicare and medicaid;
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0019| (3) workers' compensation;
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0020| (4) any program of any employer for continuation of
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0021| wages in the event of the illness or injury of an employee;
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0022| (5) proceeds of a contract of insurance payable to
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0023| the victim;
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0024| (6) a contract providing prepaid hospital and other
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0025| health care services or benefits for disability, except for the
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0001| benefits of any life insurance policy;
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0002| (7) applicable indigent funds; or
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0003| (8) cash donations;
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0004| C. "commission" means the crime victims reparation
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0005| commission;
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0006| D. "dependents" means those relatives of the deceased or
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0007| disabled victim who are more than fifty percent dependent upon the
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0008| victim's income at the time of his death or disability and includes
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0009| the child of a victim born after his death or disability;
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0010| E. "family relationship group" means any person related to
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0011| another person within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity;
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0012| F. "injury" means actual bodily harm or disfigurement and
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0013| includes pregnancy and extreme mental distress. For the purposes of
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0014| this subsection, "extreme mental distress" means a substantial
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0015| personal disorder of emotional processes, thought or cognition that
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0016| impairs judgment, behavior or ability to cope with the ordinary
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0017| demands of life;
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0018| G. "relative" means a person's spouse, parent, grandparent,
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0019| stepfather, stepmother, child, grandchild, minor brother, minor
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0020| sister, minor half-brother, minor half-sister or spouse's parents; and
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0021| H. "victim" means:
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0022| (1) a person in New Mexico who is injured or killed
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0023| by any act or omission of any other person that is a crime enumerated
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0024| in Section 31-22-8 NMSA 1978;
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0025| (2) a resident of New Mexico who is injured or killed
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0001| by such a crime occurring in a state other than New Mexico if that
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0002| state does not have an eligible crime victims compensation program; or
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0003| (3) a resident of New Mexico who is injured or killed
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0004| by an act of international terrorism, as provided in 18 U.S.C. Section
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0005| 2331."
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0006| Section 2. Section 31-22-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter
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0007| 325, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:
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0008| "31-22-8. CRIMES ENUMERATED.--
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0009| A. The crimes to which the Crime Victims Reparation Act
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0010| applies and for which reparation to victims may be made are the
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0011| following enumerated offenses and all other offenses in which any
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0012| enumerated offense is necessarily included:
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0013| (1) arson resulting in bodily injury;
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0014| (2) aggravated arson;
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0015| (3) aggravated assault or aggravated battery;
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0016| (4) dangerous use of explosives;
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0017| (5) negligent use of a deadly weapon;
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0018| (6) murder;
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0019| (7) voluntary manslaughter;
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0020| (8) involuntary manslaughter;
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0021| (9) kidnapping;
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0022| (10) criminal sexual penetration;
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0023| (11) criminal sexual contact of a minor;
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0024| (12) homicide by vehicle or great bodily injury by
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0025| vehicle, as provided in Section 66-8-101 NMSA 1978;
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0001| (13) abandonment or abuse of a child;
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0002| (14) aggravated indecent exposure, as provided in
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0003| Section 30-9-14.3 NMSA 1978; and
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0004| (15) stalking, as provided in Section 30-3A-3 NMSA
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0005| 1978, when the offender has at least one prior conviction for
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0006| stalking.
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0007| B. No award shall be made for any loss or damage to
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0008| property."
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0009| Section 3. Section 31-22-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter
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0010| 325, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read:
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0011| "31-22-14. LIMITATIONS ON AWARD--COLLATERAL RECOVERY--
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0012| PRELIMINARY AWARD.--
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0013| A. No order for the payment of reparation shall be made
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0014| unless application has been made within two years after the date of
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0015| the injury or death and the injury or death was the result of a crime
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0016| enumerated in Section 31-22-8 NMSA 1978 that had been reported to the
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0017| police within thirty days after its occurrence. In no event shall
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0018| reparation be given unless application has been made within two years
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0019| after the injury or death, except for minors who are victims of
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0020| criminal activity under the provisions of Section 30-6-1 NMSA 1978,
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0021| regarding abandonment or abuse of a child, Section 30-9-11 NMSA 1978,
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0022| regarding criminal sexual penetration, or Section 30-9-13 NMSA 1978,
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0023| regarding criminal sexual contact of a minor. The date of incident
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0024| for minors who are victims of these types of criminal activity shall
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0025| be the date the victim attains the age of eighteen years or the date
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0001| that the criminal activity is reported to a law enforcement agency,
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0002| whichever occurs first.
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0003| B. No award of reparation shall be in excess of twenty
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0004| thousand dollars ($20,000) per victim.
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0005| C. Except as provided by Subsection E of this section, the
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0006| commission shall deduct from any reparation awarded any payments
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0007| received from a collateral source or from the United States, the state
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0008| or any of its political subdivisions for injury or death subject to
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0009| reparation under the Crime Victims Reparation Act. If the claimant
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0010| receives an award of reparation from the commission and also receives
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0011| payment as set forth in the preceding sentence for which no deduction
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0012| was made, the claimant shall refund to the state the lesser of the
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0013| amount of reparation paid or the sums not so deducted.
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0014| D. If the claimant receives an award of reparation from the
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0015| commission and also receives an award pursuant to a civil judgment
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0016| arising from a criminal occurrence for which a reparation award was
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0017| paid, the claimant shall refund to the state the amount of the
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0018| reparation paid to him. The commission may negotiate a reasonable
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0019| settlement regarding repayment of the reparation award if special
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0020| circumstances exist.
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0021| E. If it appears that a final award of reparation will be
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0022| made by the commission, a preliminary award not to exceed three
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0023| thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) may be authorized by the
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0024| director of the commission or the commission's designee when the
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0025| commission chairman concurs. The amount of the preliminary award
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0001| shall be deducted from any final award made by the commission."
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0002| Section 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
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0003| provisions of this act is July 1, 1997.
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