S 1294 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

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

S 1294 amends New Jersey's crime compensation law to allow victims of certain sexual offenses to qualify for financial assistance from the Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO) without having reported the crime to police. Specifically, it removes the police report requirement for victims who received forensic medical services (like rape exams) through a county sexual assault response team within nine months of the offense - covering aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, or related crimes. This directly affects victims who chose not to report to law enforcement but sought medical care through designated response teams. The change ensures these victims can access compensation for medical, counseling, or other eligible expenses without needing a police report. The bill does not alter other eligibility rules, such as the five-year filing limit or the $25,000 compensation cap.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 19, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill Introduced · 2 edits · Jan 13, 2026
MINOR
The bill moved from a prefiled technical review stage to formal introduction. The primary substantive addition is a new STATEMENT section clarifying that the bill removes the law enforcement reporting requirement for VCCO compensation applicants who received forensic medical care from a county sexual assault response team for unreported sexual offenses. Remaining changes are formatting and cleanup.
SCOPE

A new STATEMENT section was added explaining that the bill permits VCCO payment to individuals who received forensic medical attention from a county sexual assault response team for an unreported sexual offense, removing the requirement to report the offense to law enforcement. This applies to victims of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, or criminal sexual contact.

TECHNICAL

Formatting cleanup throughout: non-breaking spaces replaced with standard spaces, minor punctuation adjustments, and removal of the senator's name and co-sponsor listing from the header as part of the transition to introduced status.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 19, 2026
Committee
Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee
upper
2 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors