Crime Victim Services

Ohio law provides a fund to help victims of violent crime recover financial losses. Through this fund, victims may be compensated for medical and counseling expenses, wage loss, replacement services and/or funeral expenses. Victims can apply for up to $50,000 in reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs.

The Sexual Assault Forensic Exam program reimburses medical facilities for the cost of forensic exams of victims of sexual violence. SAFE ensures that a victim never has to pay for his or her examination and that any evidence to be used in an eventual prosecution is properly collected.

The Crime Victim Services Section participates in the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system, which allows crime victims to check an offender’s custody status and receive immediate notification of any changes in that status. Our VINE partners are the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, the Ohio Department of Youth Services and Appriss Inc.

We are committed to strengthening Ohio’s capacity to assist older victims of crime by training law enforcement professionals on the issue, raising awareness and increasing research on elder abuse. In 2009, the Attorney General formed an Elder Abuse Commission to identify the needs of older Ohioans, find funding and establish programming.

We administer federal and state grants to local programs that assist crime victims. Among the 230 receiving support are rape crisis centers, domestic-violence shelters, guardian-ad-litem programs, and victim advocates in prosecutors’s offices. Together, the grant recipients serve more than 345,000 Ohioans a year.

We offer training and other educational programming to communities, law enforcement agencies and victim-advocate groups. In addition, victim-services training for accreditations as well as updates on law/policy changes and other advancements are provided annually at the Attorney General's Two Days in May Conference on Victim Assistance.