Crime victims can apply for state compensation, but few get it

Crime victims can receive help for funeral, medical, counseling and income assistance from the state of Missouri, but they need to fill out a lengthy application and submit a variety of documents.

Felice Roberson and Pam Robinson filed compensation claims after their sons were shot and killed in Cape Girardeau. Roberson still is waiting to hear from the Missouri Department of Public Safety to see whether her claim was accepted. The state denies more claims than it accepts.

Cape Girardeau County crime victims were awarded more than $105,000 in 2015 in 12 total claims, according to the Department of Public Safety.

That number was up from 2013, when victims received more than $56,000, and in 2014, when victims received more than $48,000.

The amount awarded last year to Cape Girardeau County is more than what was awarded in other counties: Scott County victims received about $45,000 in 2015; Jefferson County victims received about $70,000; and Ste. Genevieve County victims received no money.

“Typically, we’re on par with other first-class counties,” Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting

Attorney Chris Limbaugh said. A first-class county in Missouri has an assessed valuation of over $900 million during a five-year period; only about a dozen counties in Missouri hold such a classification.

The total awarded to Cape Girardeau victims, however, appears less generous when factoring in the vast number of crimes that could be compensated.

Crime-victim compensation, administered by the Department of Public Safety, can pay for medical expenses related to domestic assaults, aggravated assaults and virtually any violent crime.

Cape Girardeau County had 512 domestic assaults reported and 187 aggravated assaults, according to uniform crime reporting numbers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Victims in car crashes with drunk drivers also are eligible for compensation.

Compensation can apply to more than medical bills, especially in homicide cases. Crime-victim compensation can cover funeral expenses, counseling for victims and lost income from the deceased. The maximum amount a victim can receive is $25,000.

“It’s an area that deserves attention,” state Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, said.

The Department of Public Safety awarded $4,192,783 across the state, the most going to Jackson County (more than $1.1 million), St. Louis (more than $863,000) and St. Louis County (more than $342,000). The department paid 752 claims but denied 772.

The Crime Victim Compensation fund is a payer of last resort, according to the fund’s rules on its website. Resources such as court-ordered restitution or medical insurance from the offender need to be exhausted first, according to the rules. Victims need to submit a variety of data to meet the qualifications for compensation.

In death cases, the victim needs to provide a death certificate, birth certificate, a receipt from the funeral home and an itemized list of expenses from the funeral home, according to the application instructions.

Felice Roberson recently filed to be compensated for the funeral of her son, Quinton Combs, which cost about $8,000. She had to drive to Tennessee to get his birth certificate and documents from the funeral home.

“It’s a lot of legwork,” Roberson said. “You’ve got to jump through hoops.”

Roberson chose not to file to recoup lost income from Combs, who was working five jobs to support his two children. Roberson would have needed to submit Combs’ last three paycheck stubs to receive up to $400 in compensation. Combs was between jobs when he was shot and killed in November.

“You have to balance fairness with fraud,” Wallingford said of the requirements.

Pam Robinson submitted a claim for funeral expenses for her son, Zatrun Twiggs, in 2014.

She could not remember how much the family received because she was deep in grief at the time. Twiggs was shot and killed while he was sitting in a car in Cape Girardeau.

“It was real difficult. I had just lost my son,” Robinson said. “It just didn’t seem real.”

Robinson did not file for compensation for mental-health counseling for Twiggs’ wife and his seven children, some of whom have struggled at times since his death. Medical or counseling bills would be necessary to receive compensation and any paid receipts, according to the application instructions. If health insurance is available, counseling claims need to be sent to the insurer first, according to the instructions.

There also are eligibility requirements that could cause a claimant to be denied. The crime must be reported to law enforcement within 48 hours, the victim must cooperate with law enforcement, a victim cannot have committed two or more felonies in the past 10 years, and the claim must be submitted within two years of the crime, according to an eligibility checklist.

“This is a tough situation where victims should be compensated, but there are numerous budget priorities,” state Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, said. “Everybody wants us to be responsible for the money we spend.”

Swan broke down the $8.8 billion of the general fund of which the legislature has the most control: About 45 percent goes to human services, and another 22 percent goes to education.

Corrections and public safety, with a budget of about $1.3 billion, accounts for 15 percent of the budget.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 500 block of S. Frederick St., Cape Girardeau, MO