HB 349 Summary

• Requires an additional mandatory prison term of 5-10 years for offenders convicted of felony offenses of violence when a specification is proven that the victim suffered permanent disabling harm as a result of the offense.

• Defines "permanent disabling harm" as serious physical injury resulting in permanent injury to intellectual, physical, or sensory functions that substantially impairs a person's ability to meet ordinary demands of life including caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.

• Establishes a procedure allowing the Attorney General to award additional catastrophic disability compensation (up to $10,000 per year) to crime victims who suffer catastrophic disabling harm, with compensation limited to reasonably necessary medical products, services, and accommodations for medical care and treatment.

• Authorizes hearing procedures for victims denied catastrophic disability compensation eligibility, with the Attorney General required to issue a decision within 90 days and allows claimants to continue applying annually as long as the victim suffers from the catastrophic disabling harm.

• Amends victim reparations provisions to increase funeral expense limits to $7,500 and establishes attorney fee schedules for catastrophic disability compensation applications, with claimants eligible for reasonable attorney's fees and court costs if they successfully challenge the Attorney General's denial through mandamus action.