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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 439
February Session, 2024
AN ACT CONCERNING COMPENSATION FOR PERSONS WHO ARE
WRONGFULLY INCARCERATED.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-102uu of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage and 2
applicable to claims pending before the Claims Commissioner on the effective 3
date of this section or filed with the Claims Commissioner on or after the 4
effective date of this section): 5
(a) A person is eligible to receive compensation for wrongful 6
incarceration if: 7
(1) Such person has been convicted by this state of one or more crimes 8
and has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for such crime or 9
crimes and has served all or part of such sentence; and 10
(2) Such person's conviction was vacated or reversed and (A) the 11
complaint or information dismissed on grounds of innocence or 12
grounds consistent with innocence, or (B) the complaint or information 13
dismissed on a ground citing an act or omission that constitutes 14
malfeasance or other serious misconduct by any officer, agent, 15
employee or official of the state that contributed to such person's arrest, 16
prosecution, conviction or incarceration. 17 Substitute Bill No. 439
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(b) A person who meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (a) 18
of this section may present a claim against the state for such 19
compensation with the Claims Commissioner in accordance with the 20
provisions of chapter 53. The provisions of said chapter shall be 21
applicable to the presentment, hearing and determination of such claim 22
except as otherwise provided in this section. 23
(c) At the hearing on such claim, [such person] the claimant shall have 24
the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that such 25
[person] claimant meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (a) of 26
this section. In addition, such [person] claimant shall present evidence 27
as to (1) the [person's] claimant's age, income, vocational training and 28
level of education at the time of conviction, (2) loss of familial 29
relationships, (3) damage to reputation, (4) the severity of the crime for 30
which such [person] claimant was convicted and whether such [person] 31
claimant was under a sentence of death pursuant to section 53a-46a for 32
any period of time, (5) whether such [person] claimant was required to 33
register pursuant to section 54-251 or 54-252, and for what length of time 34
such [person] claimant complied with the registration requirements of 35
chapter 969, and (6) any other damages such [person] claimant may 36
have suffered arising from or related to such [person's] claimant's arrest, 37
prosecution, conviction and incarceration. The Claims Commissioner 38
shall determine whether a claimant meets such eligibility requirements 39
not later than ninety days after such hearing. 40
(d) (1) If the Claims Commissioner determines that such [person] 41
claimant has established such [person's] claimant's eligibility under 42
subsection (a) of this section by a preponderance of the evidence, the 43
Claims Commissioner shall order the immediate payment to such 44
[person] claimant of compensation for such wrongful incarceration in 45
an amount determined pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, 46
unless (A) such compensation award is in an amount exceeding 47
[twenty] thirty-five thousand dollars, or (B) such [person] claimant 48
requests, in accordance with section 4-158, that the General Assembly 49
review such compensation award. [, in which cases the] The Claims 50
Commissioner shall submit any [such claim] such compensation award 51 Substitute Bill No. 439
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described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this subdivision and the claim 52
from which such award arose to the General Assembly in the same 53
manner as provided under section 4-159, not later than five business 54
days after the commissioner issues such award determination [is made 55
or such review is requested] or receives such request for review, 56
whichever is sooner. The General Assembly shall review any such 57
compensation award and the claim from which [it] such award arose 58
not later than forty-five days after such award and claim is submitted to 59
the General Assembly and may deny [such claim] or confirm [or 60
modify] such compensation award, or remand the claim to the Office of 61
the Claims Commissioner for such further proceedings as the General 62
Assembly may direct. [If the General Assembly modifies the amount of 63
the compensation award, the General Assembly may award any amount 64
of compensation the General Assembly deems just and reasonable.] If 65
the General Assembly takes no action on such compensation award, [or 66
the claim from which it arose,] the determination made by the Claims 67
Commissioner shall be deemed confirmed. 68
(2) (A) In determining the amount of such compensation, the Claims 69
Commissioner shall award an amount that is [at a minimum, but may 70
be up to] two hundred per cent of the median [household] family 71
income for the state for each year [such person] the claimant was 72
incarcerated, as determined by the United States Department of 73
Housing and Urban Development, adjusted for inflation using the 74
consumer price index for urban consumers, provided the amount for 75
any partial year shall be prorated in order to compensate only for the 76
portion of such year in which such [person] claimant was incarcerated. 77
The Claims Commissioner may decrease or [further] increase the award 78
amount by twenty-five per cent based on an assessment of relevant 79
factors including, but not limited to, the evidence presented by the 80
[person] claimant under subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive, of subsection 81
(c) of this section. 82
(B) The amount of any compensation awarded pursuant to this 83
subdivision shall be offset by the amount of any damages awarded to 84
the claimant resulting from an action by the claimant against any other 85 Substitute Bill No. 439
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unit of government within this state by reason of the same subject of the 86
claim. 87
(e) In addition to the compensation paid under subsection (d) of this 88
section, the Claims Commissioner may order payment for the expenses 89
of employment training and counseling, tuition and fees at any 90
constituent unit of the state system of higher education. [and any other 91
services such person may need to facilitate such person's reintegration 92
into the community.] 93
(f) Any [person] claimant claiming compensation under this section 94
based on a pardon that was granted or the dismissal of a complaint or 95
information that occurred before October 1, 2008, shall file such claim 96
not later than two years after October 1, 2008. Any [person] claimant 97
claiming compensation under this section based on a pardon that was 98
granted or the dismissal of a complaint or information that occurred on 99
or after October 1, 2008, shall file such claim not later than two years 100
after the date of such pardon or dismissal. 101
(g) Any person who is compensated pursuant to this section shall 102
sign a release providing that such person voluntarily relinquishes any 103
right to pursue any other action or remedy at law or in equity against 104
the state that such person may have arising out of such wrongful 105
conviction and incarceration. 106
(h) Any damages awarded after an award pursuant to this section to 107
the claimant resulting from an action by the claimant against any other 108
unit of government within this state by reason of the same subject of the 109
claim shall be offset by the amount of the compensation award received 110
under this section. 111
(i) If a claimant who is deceased would be entitled to compensation 112
under this section if such claimant were living, including a claimant 113
whose conviction was vacated or reversed posthumously, the claimant's 114
estate is entitled to compensation under this section, provided such 115
claimant's claim was pending before the Claims Commissioner at the 116
time of such claimant's death. 117 Substitute Bill No. 439
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(j) Any compensation award and claim from which such award arose 118
that is submitted by the Claims Commissioner to the General Assembly 119
(1) when the General Assembly is not in a regular session, or (2) not 120
more than thirty days before the end of a regular session and which is 121
not acted upon dispositively before the end of such session, shall be 122
deemed to be submitted on the first day of the next regular session. 123
(k) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any agreement or 124
stipulation pursuant to the provisions of section 3-125a. 125
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage and
applicable to claims
pending before the Claims
Commissioner on the
effective date of this section
or filed with the Claims
Commissioner on or after
the effective date of this
section
54-102uu
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Subsec. (h) was rewritten for clarity.
JUD Joint Favorable Subst.