Jane B. Wood
Crime Victims Coordinator
1120 Government St.
Baton Rouge, La 70802
Phone: (225) 239-7850
Fax: (225) 227-2839
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Jane B. Wood became Victim Services Coordinator for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office in October of 2014. She assesses the needs of victims of crime in East Baton Rouge Parish and ensures they are made aware of their rights as a crime victim as stated in the Louisiana State Constitution. Additionally, through this division, direct services are offered to victims of crimes through Crime Victims’ Reparations. This program provides financial compensation to innocent victims of certain crimes.

She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from LSU. From 1991 through 2010, she served as Director of the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Rape Crisis Center (now STAR); she also served as Director of the District Attorney’s Victim’s Assistance Bureau from 2010-2012. She was responsible for implementing the OLOL Hospital Pediatric ER and Woman’s Hospital Assessment Center staff training and collection of evidence on pediatric and female adult sexual assault cases. This improvement in policy and protocol resulted in an increase of sexual assault convictions for the District Attorney’s Office. A few of the Boards she served on are: Louisiana Foundation against Sexual Assault, BR Children’s Advocacy Center, Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response (STAR), BR Human Trafficking Task Force, I CARE, and Charles W. Lamar, Jr. YMCA.

Crime Victims Assistant Coordinator
Rikee Ruffin
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You may apply if you:

1.       Believe you are a victim of a violent crime.

2.       Are the victim's legal representative (his attorney or the person legally responsible for the expenses).

3.       Are the victim's dependant.

4.       A claim may be filed regardless of whether the offender is known, has been arrested, and/or has been found guilty.

The crime must:

1.       Involve the use of force or threat of use of force AND

2.       result in personal injury, death, or catastrophic property loss AND

3.       result in expenses covered by the statute and not reimbursable by any other source.

Vehicular crimes (motor vehicle, boat or aircraft) are not included unless you are:

1.       The victim of a DWI driver.

2.       The victim of a hit and run driver.

3.       The victim of a driver who is fleeing apprehension by law enforcement.

4.       The victim whose injuries were intentionally inflicted with a vehicle.

Application Requirements:

1.       The crime must have been committed in Louisiana after July 16, 1982, or happened to a Louisiana resident in a place with no compensation program.

2.       You must have reported the crime to law enforcement officials within 72 hours unless there was a valid reason for a later reporting.

3.       You must file the application within one year from the date of the crime.

4.       You must provide the required information on the application.

5.       Your losses must not be reimbursable from any other source such as insurance, sick or annual leave, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, civil suit, or restitution. If you have access to any of these of other resources, you must use those first.

6.       You must cooperate with the reasonable requests of law enforcement officials.

You may not receive an award if:

1.       You do not comply with the application requirements above.

2.       You are the offender or an accessory, or an award could unjustly benefit either the offender or the accessory.

3.       You are confined to any type of correctional facility.

Your award could be denied or reduced if:

1.       The Board finds the implication of your behavior at the time of the crime or your past criminal activity caused or contributed to the incident.

2.       You were operating a vehicle at the time of the crime without the required insurance.

3.       You were not wearing a seatbelt as required by state law.

4.       You were a willing passenger in a vehicle driven by an intoxicated driver.

Expenses for which you may be reimbursed include those:

1.       For personal injury:

    a.       medical, hospital, nursing physical therapy, psychiatric care, or counseling;

    b.      actual loss of past earnings and anticipated loss of future earnings because of a disability resulting from the personal injury;

    c.       care of child(ren) enabling a victim or the spouse, but not both, to engage in gainful employment.

2.       As a consequence of death:

    a.       funeral, burial, cremation expenses;

    b.      loss of support to one or more dependents not otherwise compensated for personal injury loss;

    c.       care of child(ren) enabling a victim or the spouse, but not both, to engage in gainful employment, where that expense is not otherwise compensated for personal loss;

    d.      counseling or therapy for any surviving family member of the victim or any person in close relationship with such victim, if the person was physically present and directly observed the commission of the crime.

3.       Expenses of the victim associated with the collection and securing of crime scene evidence.

Expenses which may not be reimbursed for any reason include:

1.       Property losses except for a catastrophic property loss which is limited to the loss of your current residence provided it is owned and occupied by you;

2.       Pain and suffering;

3.       Attorney's fees except when they are part of an order from a hearing or awarded by a court of law.

All information presented on an application will be investigated and verified. Only actual out-of-pocket expenses can be reimbursed.

The Board is NOT responsible for your bills and does not guarantee any payment on any application.

Compensation is determined by the Board. No award may exceed $10,000 for all claims arising out of the same crime.

The Board does not guarantee payment of the maximum amount allowed by law. The Board will notify you of any action taken regarding an application. In the event you receive an award and then receive payment from any collateral source or recover damages in a civil suit, you are required to repay the Fund.

The Board may make an Emergency Award to a victim not to exceed $500 pending it's final decision on an application. This is done when it appears that an award will likely be made and undue hardship will result if no immediate relief is provided.

Applications can be obtained from:

• Any Louisiana Sheriff's Office (In East Baton Rouge Parish - call (225) 239-7850)
• The Crime Victims Reparation Board office P.O. Box 3133 Baton Rouge, LA. 70821 (225) 342-1749
• Louisiana Automated Victims Notification System

Completed applications are to be returned to the Sheriff's Office in the parish where the crime occurred. If in doubt, call the Board Office at (225) 342-1749 or go to lcle.la.gov/programs/cvr.asp for the name of the Sheriff's Office contact person in the appropriate parish. Please see the LAVNS explaination for more information on LAVNS.

• Louisiana Crime Victims Reparations Program
• Louisiana Automated Victim Notification System
• VINE Link