Florida Law
Florida Felony & Misdemeanor Criminal Defense
- Felony & Misdemeanor Criminal Defense (Florida)
Victim Services, Restitution and Compensation
Victim Services
Florida law enforcement personnel are required to provide
victims with information regarding available victim
service programs, including:
*The right to request restitution (see below)
*Crisis intervention services, support and bereavement
counseling and community-based victim treatment counseling
*The role of the victim in the criminal justice process,
the legal rights of the victim and the stages of the
criminal justice process
*The availability of protection for the victim
*The availability of victim compensation (see below).
Restitution
Under Florida law, an offender may be required to make
restitution in addition to any criminal sentence. Restitution
for bodily injury, lost income and funeral expenses
can be court ordered for the victim or the estate and
next of kin of the victim if the victim died as a result
of the criminal offense.
Compensation
In recognition of the many innocent persons who suffer
personal injury or death as a result of adult or juvenile
crime, Florida passed the Florida Crimes Compensation
Act, which provides government financial compensation
to eligible victims. To be eligible to receive compensation,
a person must be a victim, an intervenor (someone who
aids another and suffers bodily injury or death as
a result of trying to prevent a crime, lawfully apprehending
a suspected criminal or helping a victim of crime),
a surviving spouse, parent, child or other dependent.
The amount of an award is based on the actual needs
of the person requesting assistance. The maximum compensation
award permitted is $10,000, including all costs or
losses. Emergency awards are also available. A claim
for a financial award must be filed no later than one
year after the crime occurred or after the death of
the victim or intervenor. However, if the Attorney
General's Office determines there is good cause, the
deadline may be extended to two years after the crime
or death.
Resources
For more information on victims' compensation, write
to the Office of the Attorney General, Victims' Compensation,
PL-01, The Capitol, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 or call
(904) 488-0848. The Attorney General's Office also
maintains a toll-free hotline for crime victims at
(800) 226-6667.
The Florida Bar publishes If You Are Arrested in Florida
and also Juvenile Arrest. To obtain either of these
pamphlets, call The Florida Bar at (904) 561-5834.
More information concerning drunk driving can be obtained
by writing to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
of Florida, 114 West Fifth Avenue, Tallahassee, FL
32303 or by calling (904) 681-0061 or the Victims'
Hotline at (800) 772-6233.
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
also has information relating to drunk driving that
can be obtained by writing to the Florida Department
of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Office of Management
& Planning Services, Room A430, Neil Kirkman Building,
Tallahassee, FL 32399 or by calling (904) 488-3666.
Reviewed and edited by Leading Florida Attorney E.
C. Deeno Kitchen at the law firm of Kitchen Judkins
Simpson & High.
This chapter was adapted, in part, from a paper prepared
by Richard J. Essen at the law firm of Essen, Essen,
Susaneck, Canet & Lipson, P.A.
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next Page
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming |