(a) Except as otherwise provided, the following person or persons shall be eligible for compensation pursuant to this chapter:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 29-13-105

  • Child: means any individual, adopted or natural born, entitled to take as a child under the laws of this state by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and also includes a stepchild. See Tennessee Code 29-13-102
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • Family: when used with reference to a person, includes:
    (A) Any person related to such person within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity. See Tennessee Code 29-13-102
  • Offender: means a person who has or is alleged to have committed a crime. See Tennessee Code 29-13-102
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Relative: means a spouse, parent, grandparent, stepparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister and a spouse's parents or stepparents. See Tennessee Code 29-13-102
  • Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Victim: means a person who suffers personal injury or death as a direct and proximate result of any act of a person which is within the description of any of the offenses specified in §. See Tennessee Code 29-13-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) A victim of a crime;
(2) In the case of the death of the victim, a dependent of the victim;
(3) In case of the death of a victim, where the compensation is for unreimbursed or unreimbursable mental health counseling or treatment made necessary by the death of the victim, a relative of the victim;
(4) In the case of the death of the victim, where the compensation is for unreimbursed or unreimbursable funeral or burial expenses, to:

(A) The legal representative of the estate of the victim; or
(B) If no estate of the victim is opened, to:

(i) A relative of the victim as defined in § 29-13-102;
(ii) The victim’s aunt, uncle, or cousin; or
(iii) An individual related to the victim by blood;
(5) In the case of the personal injury of the victim, where the compensation is for expenses incurred by any person responsible for the maintenance of that victim, to that person;
(6) In the case of a sexually-oriented crime committed against a victim who is under eighteen (18) years of age, where the compensation is for unreimbursed or unreimbursable mental health counseling or treatment made necessary by the sexually-oriented crime, any sibling or non-offending custodial parent of the victim, or both; or
(7) In the case of domestic assault committed against the victim, where the compensation is for unreimbursed or unreimbursable mental health counseling or treatment made necessary by the crime, any child of the victim who witnesses the crime and who is under eighteen (18) years of age.
(b) A person who is criminally responsible for the crime upon which a claim is based, or an accomplice of such person, or anyone who has contributed to the crime in any respect, shall not be eligible to receive an award with respect to a claim under this chapter.
(c) No compensation shall be awarded a victim who was, at the time of the personal injury or death, a member of the offender‘s family, if it is determined that any benefit would accrue, either directly or indirectly, to the offender. This subsection (c) shall not be construed to automatically disqualify a victim who was a member of the offender’s family at the time of the injury or death.
(d) A person who has been convicted of an offense under federal law with respect to any time period during which the person is delinquent in paying a fine, other monetary penalty, or restitution imposed for the offense shall not be eligible to receive an award with respect to a claim under this chapter. This subsection (d) shall not apply until the date on which the United States attorney general, in consultation with the director of the administrative office of the United States courts, issues a written determination that a cost-effective, readily available criminal debt payment tracking system operated by the agency responsible for the collection of criminal debt has established cost-effective, readily available communications links with entities that administer federal victim compensation programs that are sufficient to ensure that victim compensation is not denied to any person except as authorized by law.
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