Crime Victim Services
Assisting Victims of Violent Crime

The Office of the Attorney General serves victims of crime by administering the Crime Victims' Compensation Program and victim service-related grants and contracts, in addition to offering training and outreach programs.

• The Crime Victims' Compensation Program reimburses out-of-pocket expenses to victims of violent crime and their families. The Crime Victims' Compensation Fund can help eligible victims pay for medical and counseling bills incurred because of the crime and can help families cover the cost of the funeral for a loved one who has been killed.
• Grants and Contracts administered by the Office of the Attorney General help fund a broad range of victim-related services. Domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, hotlines, victim advocacy, education, assistance with CVC applications and other victim-related services are available as a result of these grants and contracts.

Mission of the Crime Victim Services Division

The mission of the Crime Victim Services Division is to assist in the compassionate and effective delivery of crime victim services by offering information, resources and financial assistance to crime victims and the organizations that assist them.

Announcements:

Texas has a new program to help these victims of family violence, sexual assault, and stalking keep their actual address confidential. The Texas Address Confidentiality Program (ACP), administered by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), provides a substitute post office box address and free mail forwarding service for participants.

ACP is a safety tool and intended as one step in an overall safety plan. It is neither a witness protection program nor a guarantee of safety.

Laws governing the ACP program are found in Chapter 56, Subchapter C, of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

2008 CVSD Annual Report:
Last year, the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund received 37,386 applications and awarded more than $66 million in compensation on behalf of victims. We also distributed nearly $34 million in grants to nonprofit and public organizations that provide emergency shelter, crisis counseling, court accompaniment and other assistance to crime victims. The Crime Victim Services Division annual report for Fiscal Year 2008 is now available.

FY2008-2009 CVSD Grantees:
In fiscal year 2007, the OAG awarded $35,901,249 to organizations that provide crucial victim services in the state of Texas. The list of FY2008-2009 CVSD Grantees as of 9-1-07 is available (alphabetical by county).

OCA Model Collections Program:
The ability to provide assistance to victims of crime is linked to the solvency of the Compensation Fund. Approximately 95% of the money in the Compensation Fund comes from court costs and fees from convicted criminal offenders. The Office of Court Administration assists counties and municipalities with improving the collection of outstanding court costs and court fees. Learn more about the Model Collections Program administered by the Office of Court Administration.