California · Government Code

GOV §13951: As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: (a) “Board” means the California Victim Compensation Board.

Civil

What this law says, in plain English

This statute defines terms used in California's victim compensation program, including 'crime,' 'victim,' 'pecuniary loss,' and related concepts for administering compensation to crime victims.

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As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: (a) “Board” means the California Victim Compensation Board. (b) (1) “Crime” means a crime or public offense, wherever it may take place, that would constitute a misdemeanor or a felony if the crime had been committed in California by a competent adult. (2) “Crime” includes an act of terrorism, as defined in Section 2331 of Title 18 of the United States Code, committed against a resident of the state, whether or not the act occurs within the state. (c) “Derivative victim” means an individual who sustains pecuniary loss as a result of injury or death to a victim. (d) “Law enforcement” means every district attorney, municipal police department, sheriff’s department, district attorney’s office, county probation department, and social services agency, the Department of Justice, the Department of Corrections, the Department of the Youth Authority, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the police department of any campus of the University of California, California State University, or community college, and every agency of the State of California expressly authorized by statute to investigate or prosecute law violators. (e) “Pecuniary loss” means an economic loss or expense resulting from an injury or death to a victim of crime that has not been and will not be reimbursed from any other source. (f) “Peer counseling” means counseling offered by a provider of mental health counseling services who has completed a specialized course in rape crisis counseling skills development, participates in continuing education in rape crisis counseling skills development, and provides rape crisis counseling within the State of California. (g) “Victim” means an individual who sustains injury or death as a direct result of a crime as specified in subdivision (e) of Section 13955. (h) “Victim center” means a victim and witness assistance center that receives funds pursuant to Section 13835.2 of the Penal Code.

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