An applicant may file an application for compensation by
telephone or in writing within two years of the occurrence or discovery of a
crime pursuant to Iowa Code section
915.84(1). For
a victim of sexual abuse when the offender has been referred pursuant to Iowa
Code chapter 229A, the date of the discovery of the crime shall be considered
to be the date when the referral was made. The program may waive the
requirements of Iowa Code section
915.84(1) if
good cause is shown.
(1)
Application postmarked. An application postmarked within the
prescribed time period shall be considered timely filed.
(2)
Good cause. In
determining whether there is good cause for waiver of the two-year application
filing requirement, the victim's age, physical condition, psychological state,
and cultural or linguistic barriers and any compelling health or safety reasons
that would jeopardize the well-being of the victim may be considered.
(3)
Multiple erroneous
claims. When two or more applications are filed by or on behalf of an
individual applicant during a calendar month and the applications appear on
initial review to be erroneous claims based on innocent misrepresentation or
circumstances of a similar nature, the claims shall be treated as a single
application. Verification shall be investigated for each crime recorded in a
file with multiple erroneous applications. If any of the crimes recorded in a
combined application are verified as compensable crimes, the applications for
compensation for those crimes shall be separated from the combined file and
assigned distinct application numbers. The program will notify the applicant
whenever two or more applications have been combined as one
application.
(4)
Program
effective date. The effective date of the crime victim compensation
program is January 1, 1983. Victims and survivors of crimes that were committed
prior to the effective date may be eligible for compensation if the program can
obtain sufficient documentation to verify eligibility.
(5)
Concurrent primary and secondary
applications. A victim may be both a primary victim and a secondary
victim in the same crime. The secondary victim application shall not be opened
until a benefit has been exhausted for the primary application and there is
documentation of need for further benefits in that category. The secondary
victim application shall be considered timely filed if the primary victim
application was timely filed.
(6)
Concurrent secondary victim applications. A victim may be a
secondary victim to multiple primary victims in a crime. A subsequent secondary
victim application shall not be opened until a benefit has been exhausted in
the first secondary victim application and there is documentation of need for
further benefits in that category. Subsequent secondary victim applications
shall be considered timely filed if the primary victim application was timely
filed.
