Sec. 14. (a) The victim and witness assistance fund is established. The institute shall administer the fund. Except as provided in subsection (e), expenditures from the fund may be made only in accordance with appropriations made by the general assembly.

(b) The source of the victim and witness assistance fund is the family violence and victim assistance fund established by IC 5-2-6.8-3.

(c) The institute may use money from the victim and witness assistance fund when awarding a grant or entering into a contract under this chapter, if the money is used for the support of a program in the office of a prosecuting attorney or in a state or local law enforcement agency designed to:

(1) help evaluate the physical, emotional, and personal needs of a victim resulting from a crime, and counsel or refer the victim to those agencies or persons in the community that can provide the services needed;

(2) provide transportation for victims and witnesses of crime to attend proceedings in the case when necessary; or

(3) provide other services to victims or witnesses of crime when necessary to enable them to participate in criminal proceedings without undue hardship or trauma.

(d) Money in the victim and witness assistance fund at the end of a particular fiscal year does not revert to the general fund.

(e) The institute may use money in the fund to:

(1) pay the costs of administering the fund, including expenditures for personnel and data;

(2) support the registration of sex or violent offenders under IC 11-8-8 and the Indiana sex and violent offender registry established under IC 36-2-13-5.5;

(3) provide training for persons to assist victims; and

(4) establish and maintain a victim notification system under IC 11-8-7 if the department of correction establishes the system.

As added by P.L.33-1985, SEC.5. Amended by P.L.36-1990, SEC.1; P.L.1-1994, SEC.15; P.L.11-1994, SEC.6; P.L.56-1998, SEC.5; P.L.116-2002, SEC.6; P.L.64-2005, SEC.2; P.L.140-2006, SEC.3 and P.L.173-2006, SEC.3; P.L.216-2007, SEC.2; P.L.130-2009, SEC.2.