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Senate advances bill to compensate people found factually innocent, tying awards to average wages
Summary
Senate Bill 16, sponsored by Senator Bell, would create a standardized compensation scheme for people found factually innocent and direct awards from the Crime Victims Reparation Fund; senators debated proof standards, fiscal mechanics and eligibility before advancing the bill to third reading (27–0–2).
Senator Curt Bell introduced Senate Bill 16, a bill to establish a compensatory framework for people found "factually innocent," and asked the Senate to read the bill for a third time. The bill would treat a factual exoneration as though the conviction never occurred and provide standardized payments tied to the state's average annual wage for each year spent incarcerated, with additional provisions for time spent on death row.
Supporters said the bill is modeled on recent DNA-exoneration efforts and is intended to provide consistent, modest relief while reducing litigation. "This is an exciting bill," the sponsor said, describing a system that…
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