A state fund used to compensate victims of violent crime and to pay for rape kits was allocated $2.1 million from settlement funds to replenish its dwindling coffers, state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Wednesday.
The transfer of money from Rutledge's office came at a time when the Crime Victims Reparation Program had less than $100,000 in its account, according to Arkansas Department of Public Safety Secretary Jami Cook.
"The contribution was so very needed," Cook said in an email.
Rutledge announced the transfer of funds Wednesday alongside Cook and Arkansas first lady Susan Hutchinson, an advocate for children's issues. Rutledge made a similar transfer of $2 million to the reparations fund earlier in her tenure as attorney general, when the fund was administered by her office.
As part of a government reorganization program completed last year, the Crime Victims Reparations Program was moved to the Department of Public Safety.
"Now, more than ever, it's critical to get these funds into those entities because with so many children out of school and throughout this pandemic, we have young kids with adults who don't love them as they should," Rutledge said Wednesday.
In addition to covering treatment for violent crime victims and financial assistance to the families of those killed in crimes, the reparations fund also reimburses Children's Advocacy Centers around the state for costs associated with the collection of rape kits and tests for sexually transmitted diseases for minor victims of sexual assault.
Last year, the fund paid 17 different advocacy centers more than $1 million to cover 1,226 claims related to sexual assault cases, according to Cook.
"The compassionate allotment from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will ensure the Crime Victims Reparations Board can help restore some small degree of hope to those who did nothing wrong," Cook said.
In an email, Cook explained that the program receives regular funding from the state Administration of Justice Fund, the U.S. Department of Justice and restitution payments made by offenders. On average, the fund awards about $295,000 in claims each month, Cook said.
Asked Wednesday whether the Victims Reparations Program needed a permanent source of funding, Rutledge said that it could not come from her office, which has relied on settlements from lawsuits to replenish the fund.
"Without a crystal ball, I don't know how much money that will be," she said.
Rutledge's predecessor, Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, called legislative attention to the Victims Reparations Fund in 2014, saying that it was on track toward insolvency, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported. Money from the Administration of Justice fund was being split with other programs, the paper found, and being hampered by decreased collections of court fees and real estate transfer taxes.
"It's through our courts, and collecting those funds from criminal defendants who have committed such acts is supposed to go into that Administration of Justice fund," Rutledge said Wednesday. "That has just continually fallen short over the years."
The money transferred from her office's settlement accounts to the victims reparations fund can be spent according to the determinations of the board that oversees the fund, Rutledge said.
According to the board's website, eligible victims can receive up to $10,000 from the fund, or $25,000 if they have "catastrophic" injuries.