What is the North Dakota Crime Victims Compensation Program?

WEST FARGO — North Dakota residents may have noticed advertising for the state’s Crime Victims Compensation program.

The program to help pay for innocent victims who are physically or emotionally injured in a crime has been around for decades, but the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which administers the funds, has recently stepped up advertising and outreach to educate the public.

The efforts are paying off, said McKenzie Clayburgh, a grants and contracts coordinator for the DOCR. In the six months she has been on the job, she has seen an uptick in victims applying for the funds.

“We are making a push to do more advertising to make the program feel more accessible, … more known,” she said. “I’d like more people to know about it and be able to get help if they need it.”

The program is used to help cover injury expenses when compensation isn’t available from insurance claims or restitution, according to the program’s website. That could include medical and mental health treatment, medications, funeral expenses, replacement services and loss of wages.

“We’re actually the payer of last resort,” Clayburgh said.

A victim can qualify up to $25,000 in losses, with some limitations. Victims of a terrorist act in a foreign country also can apply for the funds.

Victims have to report the crime to police within 96 hours, or four days of the crime or discovery of the crime. They also must cooperate with “reasonable requests” from law enforcement.

The victim must not have provoked or incited the crime, nor could they have been assisting in or committing a crime when they were injured.

They then have a year from when they reported the crime to apply for the funds through the state program.

Property loss or damage wouldn’t qualify, such as if a person broke into a car, she said.

The program was established nationwide in 1984 based on recommendations made by President Jimmy Carter’s Task Force on Victims of Crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Funds come from fines and penalties paid from convictions in federal courts. In North Dakota, roughly 3,000 victims accessed $2 million from the fund over the past five years, Clayburgh said.

The criminal system tends to focus on the offender, Clayburgh said, adding that the victim can sometimes be forgotten.

“I think that the crime victim compensation offers a way for victims to find healing and recovery through our program,” she said.

More information on the program and instructions on how to apply can be found at

docr.nd.gov/crime-victims-compensation

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