89-CC-2656 Professional Adjustment Bureau; Agent for Dr. M.L. Mehra 29.75 90-CC-1576 Rehab Products & Services 2,436.13 CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION ACT Where person is victim of violent crime as defined in the Act; has suffered pecuniary loss of $200.00 or I more; notified and cooperated fully with law enforce- ment officials immediately after the crime; the victim and the assailant were not related and sharing the same household; the injury was not substantially attributable to the victim’s wrongful act or substantial provocation; and his claim was filed in the Court of Claims within one year of the date of injury, compensation is payable under the Act. OPINIONS PUBLISHED IN FULL FY 1990 (No. Unassigned-Claim denied.) In re APPLICATION OF JOHN M. GERACHTY
Case summary
The claimant sought an extension of time to file a claim under the Crime Victims Compensation Act, but the court denied the petition because the claim was filed approximately 28 months after the crime, exceeding the statutory limit of 18 months from the date of the crime.
Statutes cited: Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 71 et se9; Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 76.l(a)
Cases cited: In re Application of Linda Hutcheson (1985), 37 Ill. Ct. Cl. 491, 492-93
AI-generated summary from the opinion text — may contain errors. The opinion text and PDF above are the official record.
Headnotes
- NEIL F. HARTIGAN, Attorney General (DANIEL BRENNAN, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel), for Respondent.
- CRIMEVICTIMS COMPENSATION ACT-limitations on filing claim. Pursuant to the Crime Victims Compensation Act, a notice of an intent to file a claim must be filed within six months of the crime and the claim must be filed within one year of the crime, but the Court of Claims may extend the time for filing the notice of intent to file a claim for a period not exceeding one year.
- SAME-purpose of Crime Victims Compensation Act. The Crime Victims Compensation Act is intended to aid and assist crime victims under certain circumstances to receive compensation to help pay for the damage they sustained, but the rules and procedures applicable to such claims must be followed before the Court of Claims can award benefits.
- SAME-petitiOn to extend time for filing ckim denikd. Where the Claimant filed a notice of intent to file a claim under the Crime Victims
- Compensation Act in a timely manner, but failed to file a timely claim, and then sought an extension of the time to file a claim some 28 months after the date of the crime, the Court of Claims denied Claimant’s request, since the rules and procedures applicable to claims under the Act must be followed, and the Act allows only an extension of one year beyond the filing of the notice of intent, or a total period of 18 months from the date of the crirne.
On July 21, 1988, this Court entered an order denying the Claimant’s request to extend the time to file a claim pursuant to the Crime Victims Compensation Act. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 71 et se9.
The crime occurred on December 23, 1985, while the petition to extend was filed on May 17, 1988. The Crime Victims Compensation Act states that notice of a claim must be filed within six months of the crime and the claim must be filed within one year of the crime. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 76.l(a).) The same section states that the Court “may extend the time for filing the notice of intent to file a claim and application for a period not exceeding one year.”
In this matter, a notice was filed in time but no claim was filed. Approximately 28 months after the date of the crime, a petition to extend the time for filing was submitted to this Court. This Court’s original order denied the petition for extension on the grounds that the Crime Victims Compensation Act allows an extension of one year beyond the filing of the notice, or a total period of 18 months from the date of the crime.
The Claimant requested a hearing on the order of denial, and such was held on June 7, 1989, and, additionally, on July 7, 1989. The Claimant represented himself and defended his failure to file his application within the time limits stated by the Act by his assertion that an investigator of the Attorney General’s office told [*390] him not to file until after the completion of his Workers’ Compensation Act claim arising from ‘thesame incident. The Attorney General’s office testified that it was not their policy to give such advice.
This Court has discussed the issue of late filing in a claim entitled In re Application of Linda Hutcheson (1985), 37 Ill. Ct. C1. 491,492-93. “The Crime Victims Compensation Act was enactedby the legislature to aid and assist crime victims under certain circumstances to receive compensation to help pay for the damage they sustained. The legislature also provided the rules under which proceedings must be had to claim the benefit. The legislature further provided that the hearing agency in crimes of this nature was the Court of Claims. The Court of Claims is bound by the acts of the legislature and all procedures set forth by the legislature must be followed by the Court before benefits can be awarded.
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Claimant, having failed to abide by the rules provided in the Crime Victims Compensation Act, is not entitled to an award * O O.”
We see no reason that the logic of Hutcheson does not apply to this claim. It is therefore ordered that this Court’s order of July 21, 1988, is reaffirmed and the Claimant’s petition is denied.