A 2255 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Permits exception to VCCO compensation reporting requirement for unreported sexual offenses if victim received certain forensic medical services.

This bill amends New Jersey's crime compensation law to allow victims of sexual assault to qualify for compensation from the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO) even if they did not report the offense to police. It directly affects victims of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, or related offenses who received forensic medical services through a county sexual assault response team (SART) within nine months of the incident. The key provision removes the requirement for a police report when such medical services were provided, making compensation accessible to those who sought medical care but chose not to report to law enforcement. The change applies to cases where a SART conducted forensic exams, streamlining access to support for unreported sexual offenses.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 19, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill → Introduced · 3 edits · Jan 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill removes the requirement that victims must have reported a sexual offense to law enforcement in order to receive compensation from the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO), provided they received forensic medical services from a county sexual assault response team. This expands eligibility for VCCO payments to victims of unreported sexual assaults who sought medical help but did not report the crime to police. The remaining changes are technical formatting adjustments and the addition of a legislative statement explaining the bill's purpose.

Scope change

Expands eligibility for VCCO compensation to include victims of unreported sexual offenses who received forensic medical services from a sexual assault response team, removing the prior requirement that the offense be reported to law enforcement.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the requirement that a victim must have reported the offense to law enforcement to qualify for VCCO compensation, as long as the victim received forensic medical services from a sexual assault response team established under P.L.2001, c.81 (C.52:4B-54) for an offense listed in paragraph (9) of subsection b. of section 11 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act.

TECHNICAL

Added a legislative STATEMENT at the end of the bill explaining that it permits VCCO payment to individuals who received forensic medical attention by a county sexual assault response team for an unreported sexual offense.

Changed 'Sexual Assault Response Team' to lowercase 'sexual assault response team' and made various punctuation and line-break formatting adjustments throughout the text.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors