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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7251
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6757
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RESOLUTION OF CLAIMS FOR
WRONGFUL INCARCERATION BY THE CLAIMS COMMISSIONER.
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 Section 54-102uu of the general statutes is repealed and the 1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 July 1, 2025): 2
(a) A person is eligible to receive compensation for wrongful 3
incarceration if: 4
(1) Such person has been convicted by this state of one or more crimes 5
and has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment for such crime or 6
crimes and has served all or part of such sentence; and 7
(2) Such person's conviction was (A) vacated or reversed, and (B) the 8
complaint or information dismissed on (i) grounds of innocence or 9
grounds consistent with innocence, or (ii) a ground citing an act or 10
omission that constitutes malfeasance or other serious misconduct by 11
any officer, agent, employee or official of the state that contributed to 12
such person's arrest, prosecution, conviction or incarceration. 13
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(3) For purposes of this subsection, "grounds consistent with 14
innocence" includes, but is not limited to, a situation in which a 15
conviction was vacated or reversed and there is substantial evidence of 16
innocence, whether such evidence was available at the time of 17
investigation or trial or is newly discovered. 18
(b) A person who meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (a) 19
of this section may present a claim against the state for such 20
compensation with the Claims Commissioner in accordance with the 21
provisions of chapter 53. The provisions of said chapter shall be 22
applicable to the presentment, hearing and determination of such claim 23
except as otherwise provided in this section. 24
(c) At the hearing on such claim, the claimant shall have the burden 25
of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that such claimant 26
meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (a) of this section. In 27
addition, such claimant shall present evidence as to (1) the claimant's 28
age, income, vocational training and level of education at the time of 29
conviction, (2) loss of familial relationships, (3) damage to reputation, 30
(4) the severity of the crime for which such claimant was convicted and 31
whether such claimant was under a sentence of death pursuant to 32
section 53a-46a for any period of time, (5) whether such claimant was 33
required to register pursuant to section 54-251 or 54-252, and for what 34
length of time such claimant complied with the registration 35
requirements of chapter 969, and (6) any other damages such claimant 36
may have suffered arising from or related to such 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 claimant has 41
established such claimant's eligibility under subsection (a) of this section 42
by a preponderance of the evidence, the Claims Commissioner shall 43
order the immediate payment to such claimant of compensation for 44
such wrongful incarceration in an amount determined pursuant to 45
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subdivision (2) of this subsection, unless (A) such compensation award 46
is in an amount exceeding thirty-five thousand dollars, or (B) such 47
claimant requests, in accordance with section 4-158, that the General 48
Assembly review such compensation award. The Claims Commissioner 49
shall submit any such compensation award described in subparagraph 50
(A) or (B) of this subdivision and the claim from which such award arose 51
to the General Assembly in the same manner as provided under section 52
4-159, not later than five business days after the commissioner issues 53
such award determination or receives such request for review, 54
whichever is sooner. The General Assembly shall review any such 55
compensation award and the claim from which such award arose not 56
later than forty-five days after such award and claim is submitted to the 57
General Assembly and may deny or confirm such compensation award, 58
or remand the claim to the Office of the Claims Commissioner for such 59
further proceedings as the General Assembly may direct. If the General 60
Assembly takes no action on such compensation award, the 61
determination made by the Claims Commissioner shall be deemed 62
confirmed. 63
(2) (A) In determining the amount of such compensation, the Claims 64
Commissioner shall award an amount that is two hundred per cent of 65
the median family income for the state for each year the claimant was 66
incarcerated, as determined by the United States Department of 67
Housing and Urban Development, adjusted for inflation using the 68
consumer price index for urban consumers, provided the amount for 69
any partial year shall be prorated in order to compensate only for the 70
portion of such year in which such claimant was incarcerated. The 71
Claims Commissioner may decrease or increase the award amount by 72
twenty-five per cent based on an assessment of relevant factors 73
including, but not limited to, the evidence presented by the claimant 74
under subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive, of subsection (c) of this section. 75
(B) The amount of any compensation awarded pursuant to this 76
subdivision shall be offset by the amount of any damages awarded to 77
the claimant resulting from an action by the claimant against any other 78
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unit of government within this state by reason of the same subject of the 79
claim. 80
(e) In addition to the compensation paid under subsection (d) of this 81
section, the Claims Commissioner may order payment for the expenses 82
of employment training and counseling, tuition and fees at any 83
constituent unit of the state system of higher education. 84
(f) The Attorney General and the claimant may agree or stipulate to 85
facts and a compensation award that is presented to the Claims 86
Commissioner. The Claims Commissioner shall determine whether the 87
agreed upon or stipulated facts demonstrate that the claimant is eligible 88
to receive compensation for wrongful incarceration pursuant to 89
subsection (a) of this section. If the Claims Commissioner finds that the 90
claimant is eligible to receive compensation for wrongful incarceration 91
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Claims Commissioner shall 92
approve the agreement or stipulation and order immediate payment of 93
compensation to the claimant for wrongful incarceration in the amount 94
set forth in such agreement or stipulation. Notwithstanding the 95
provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of this section, any 96
agreement or stipulation entered into by the Attorney General and a 97
claimant and approved by the Claims Commissioner under this 98
subsection that requires an expenditure of two million five hundred 99
thousand dollars or less from the General Fund shall not be submitted 100
to the General Assembly for review. 101
[(f)] (g) Any claimant claiming compensation under this section 102
based on a pardon that was granted or the dismissal of a complaint or 103
information that occurred before October 1, 2008, shall file such claim 104
not later than two years after October 1, 2008. Any claimant claiming 105
compensation under this section based on a pardon that was granted or 106
the dismissal of a complaint or information that occurred on or after 107
October 1, 2008, shall file such claim not later than two years after the 108
date of such pardon or dismissal. 109
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[(g)] (h) Any person who is compensated pursuant to this section 110
shall sign a release providing that such person voluntarily relinquishes 111
any right to pursue any other action or remedy at law or in equity 112
against the state that such person may have arising out of such wrongful 113
conviction and incarceration. 114
[(h)] (i) Any damages awarded after an award pursuant to this 115
section to the claimant resulting from an action by the claimant against 116
any other unit of government within this state by reason of the same 117
subject of the claim shall be offset by the amount of the compensation 118
award received under this section. 119
[(i)] (j) If a claimant who is deceased would be entitled to 120
compensation under this section if such claimant were living, including 121
a claimant whose conviction was vacated or reversed posthumously, the 122
claimant's estate is entitled to compensation under this section, 123
provided such claimant's claim was pending before the Claims 124
Commissioner at the time of such claimant's death. 125
[(j)] (k) Any compensation award and claim from which such award 126
arose that is submitted by the Claims Commissioner to the General 127
Assembly (1) when the General Assembly is not in a regular session, or 128
(2) not more than thirty days before the end of a regular session and 129
which is not acted upon dispositively before the end of such session, 130
shall be deemed to be submitted on the first day of the next regular 131
session. 132
[(k)] (l) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any 133
agreement or stipulation in connection with a lawsuit to which the state 134
is a party pursuant to the provisions of section 3-125a. 135
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 54-102uu
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Statement of Purpose:
To permit the Attorney General and a claimant to stipulate to facts and
a compensation award that may, in certain instances, be approved by
the Claims Commissioner without the need for the General Assembly to
approve such agreement or stipulation.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]