States Beginning with A

Alabama

Alabama Victim Assistance
334-242-5891

Alabama Victim Compensation
334-242-4007

Alabama does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. It was passed in 1994. This amendment reads as follows:

(a) Crime victims, as defined by law or their lawful representatives, including the next of kin of homicide victims, are entitled to the right to be informed, to be present, and to be heard when authorized, at all crucial stages of criminal proceedings, to the extent that these rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the person accused of committing the crime.

(b) Nothing in this amendment or in any enabling statute adopted pursuant to this amendment shall be construed as creating a cause of action against the state or any of its agencies, officials, employees, or political subdivisions. The legislature may from time to time enact enabling legislation to carry out and implement this amendment.

Alaska

Alaska Victim Assistance 907-465-4356

Alaska does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. It was passed in 1994. This amendment reads as follows:

ARTICLE 2, SECTION 24. RIGHTS OF CRIME VICTIMS.

Crime victims, as defined by law, shall have the following rights as provided by law:

the right to be reasonably protected from the accused through the imposition of appropriate bail or conditions of release by the court;

the right to confer with the prosecution;

the right to be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness during all phases of the criminal and juvenile justice process;

the right to timely disposition of the case following the arrest of the accused;

the right to obtain information about and be allowed to be present at all criminal or juvenile proceedings where the accused has the right to be present;

the right to be allowed to be heard, upon request, at sentencing, before or after conviction or juvenile adjudication, and at any proceeding where the accused's release from custody is considered;

the right to restitution from the accused; and

the right to be informed, upon request, of the accused's escape or released from custody before or after conviction or juvenile adjudication.

American Samoa

MANU'S PROGRAMS
PAGO PAGO, AS 96799
(684) 633-5221

VICTIMS OF CRIMES EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION
PAGO PAGO, AS 96799
(684) 633-5221

TUTUILA/AUNUU VICTIM OF CRIMES PROGRAM
PAGO PAGO, AS 96799
(684) 633-5221

VICTIM RIGHT/WITNESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
PAGO PAGO, AS 96799
(684) 633-5221

Arizona

Arizona Victim Compensation
602-542-1928

Glendale Victim Assistance
Glendale, AZ
(602) 930-2435
email
Glendale Victim Assistance is a Police Department-based program that provides comprehensive services to crime victims who are Glendale residents or victims of crimes investigated by the Glendale Police Department. Services include 24-hour on-scene crisis services, information services to help victims successfully interact with the criminal justice system and to recover from the impact of the crime, assistance with Orders of Protection and related domestic violence issues, investigative and court support to victims, short-term counseling, limited financial assistance (including the cleanup of homicide and suicide scenes), and referrals to other community resources. The program is also responsible for the Department’s compliance with Arizona’s victims’ rights mandates. Glendale Victim Assistance began in 1975 and over the years has been recognized nationally for its excellence.

Parents of Murdered Children
Phoenix, AZ
(602) 254-8818
email
Parents of Murdered Children (POMC) provides support and information to all surviving family and friends of a homicide victim, through our monthly meetings in the East, West and Far East Valley. We have a speaker meeting centrally located where judges, counselors, prosecutors, detectives etc., provide information to enable better understanding of the system and how it works to help victims survive the trauma that a murder causes. We provide a monthly newsletter and a package of information to all survivors and or requesting professionals, as well as programs to help victims with parole hearings, sentencing letters, unsolved cases, speakers for victim panels, and much more. POMC has a memorial each year to keep the memory of our loved ones lost to violence alive, with a tree and memorial bench at the Arizona State Capitol that reads: In memory of our loved ones, In honor of their lives, In hope that a new day will dawn when no life is lost to violence.

Phoenix Police Department Homicide Unit Family Liaison Program
Phoenix, AZ
In an effort to better serve the community, the Homicide Unit of the Phoenix Police Department has created the Family Liaison Program. The purpose of this program is to improve communication between the Homicide Unit and the families of homicide and suicide victims. Once a homicide has occurred, the primary focus of Homicide personnel is on the identification and apprehension of the perpetrator. The case agent and investigators often do not have time to fully respond to the needs of the victim’s family. Family Liaison Program volunteers assist the case agent by communicating with the victim’s family. Such communication includes providing general information about the criminal justice system and the Medical Examiner’s Office, checking on the welfare of family members, providing appropriate social service referrals, and responding to questions (or, if a question cannot be answered due to investigative concerns, fully explaining why the question cannot be answered).

Our Town Family Center
Tucson, AZ
(520) 323-1706 or 1-800-53R-TOWN
Our Town Family Center provides a variety of services to victims and survivors of violent crime and their families. Located in Tucson, Our Town serves Pima County residents who are impacted by violent crime, including victims and survivors of assault, homicide, kidnapping, child sexual abuse, domestic violence and child physical abuse. Our Town operates a 24-hour crisis phone which is staffed by trained crisis counselors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Victims and/or survivors may contact the crisis phone at any time for crisis counseling and support. Teams of crisis counselors are available to follow up telephone intervention with up to three in-home crisis visits to assist victims and survivors in coping with their victimization. Our Town, as a licensed behavioral health facility, also provides ongoing counseling, usually of 3-6 months’ duration, to victims and survivors of violent crime. Services are provided in the family’s own home, or for a group of victims/survivors, in the community as needed. Our Town’s Community Crisis Response Team dispatches a team of trained crisis counselors to respond to community requests for assistance in the event of a violent crime, such as a drive-by shooting, kidnapping of a child, or violent crime within a school. All services are provided free of charge to victims and survivors. Spanish-speaking staff are always available.

Survivors of Homicide/Parents of Murdered Children
Pima Co Atty, 32 N Stone #1108
Tucson, AZ 85701
(520)740-5729 (Office, ans machine available), 881-1794 (Information & Referral Serv., Mon-Fri 8-5)
Email

Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. and Other Survivors of Homicide Victims provide support, information and advocacy for people who have lost a loved one by homicide; offers one-to-one phone support, support throughout court procedures, family social gatherings, newsletter, and maintains a speakers bureau. Self help support meetings for any survivor of homicide are held on the second Wednesday of the month at Palo Verde Hospital, 2695 N. Craycroft, in the Nueva Vida Room. Speaker/Information meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of the month at Palo Verde Hospital, 2695 N. Craycroft, in the Dining Room. Spanish bilingual self help support meetings for any survivor of homicide are held on the third Thursday of the month at Project Yes, 100 W. 37th St., South Tucson.

Arizona does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. It was passed in 1990. This amendment reads as follows:

Victims' Bill of Rights

(A) To preserve and protect victims' rights to justice and due process, a victim of crime has a right:

1. To be treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and to be free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse, throughout the criminal justice process.

2. To be informed, upon request, when the accused or convicted person is released from custody or has escaped.

3. To be present at, and, upon request, to be informed of all criminal proceedings where the defendant has the right to be present.

4. To be heard at any proceeding involving a post-arrest release decision, a negotiated plea, and sentencing.

5. To refuse an interview, deposition, or other discovery request by the defendant, the defendant's attorney, or other person acting on behalf of the defendant.

6. To confer with the prosecution, after the crime against the victim has been charged, before trial or before any disposition of the case and to be informed of the disposition.

7. To read pre-sentence reports relating to the crime against the victim when they are available to the defendant.

8. To receive prompt restitution from the person or persons convicted of the criminal conduct that caused the victim's loss or injury.

9. To be heard at any proceeding when any post-conviction release from confinement is being considered.

10. To a speedy trial or disposition and prompt and final conclusion of the case after the conviction and sentence.

11. To have all rules governing criminal procedure and the admissibility of evidence in all criminal proceedings protect victims' rights and to have these rules be subject to amendment or repeal by the legislature to ensure the protection of these rights.

12. To be informed of victims' constitutional rights.

(B) A victims' exercise of any right granted by this section shall not be grounds for dismissing any criminal proceeding or setting aside any conviction or sentence.

(C) "Victim" means a person against whom the criminal offense has been committed or, if the person is killed or incapacitated, the person's spouse, parent, child or other lawful representative except if the person is in custody for an offense or is the accused.

(D) The legislature, or the people by initiative or referendum, have the authority to enact substantive and procedural laws to define, implement, preserve and protect the rights guaranteed to victims by this section, including the authority to extend any of these rights to juvenile proceedings.

(E) The enumeration in the constitution of certain rights for victims shall not be construed to deny or disparage others granted by the legislature or retained by victims.

Arkansas

Arkansas Victim Compensation
501-682-1323

Unlike victims in thirty-one other states, victims in Arkansas have no constitutional rights.