Chapter 173 of the Laws of 2006

Many victims of crime have no knowledge of the existence of services provided by the Office of Victim Services (OVS), or any awareness of their basic rights or the availability of victim assistance programs in their communities.  This lack of information is a grave disservice to one of the State’s most vulnerable populations – innocent victims of crime.

 To address this problem, Chapter 173 of 2006 was enacted to ensure that crime victims are made aware of their rights and are informed about the existence of victims’ services and programs.  This law requires OVS to provide information cards to police agencies for distribution to crime victims.  The cards inform crime victims of the OVS’s locations, phone numbers, website address and services.  The card also includes information on a  victim’s basic rights and provides space for handwritten entry of appropriate local victim assistance programs.  The cards have been distributed to law enforcement agencies across the State.  This on-line version of the form is available for you to download and print as needed.

Police Card – English(513 kb)  /  Spanish(41.3 kb)

This law also required the OVS and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to develop a form to be used by all district attorney offices to report the distribution of the OVS’s The Rights of Crime Victims in New York State(118 kb) pamphlet. The law requires the district attorneys to complete the form annually and submit it to the OVS each year by January 1.  Additionally, district attorneys are required to make this report available to crime victims or their families free of charge or to others for a fee not to exceed the cost of reproduction.