EXECUTIVE ORDER
07-07

WHEREAS, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations is authorized pursuant to Article IV, Section 12, of the Missouri Constitution and Chapter 286, RSMo; and

WHEREAS, the Missouri Department of Public Safety is authorized pursuant to Article IV, Section 12, of the Missouri Constitution and Chapter 650, RSMo; and

WHEREAS, the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund is established in Section 595.045, RSMo, and is currently administered by the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Division of Workers' Compensation; and

WHEREAS, the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund was established in 1981 to assist victims of violent crimes through a period of financial hardship; and

WHEREAS, the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund is supported by a surcharge assessed in criminal court proceedings filed in Missouri courts; and

WHEREAS, the Office for Victims of Crime was established in the Missouri Department of Public Safety in 2001 to coordinate and promote the state's programs for victims of crime, coordinate efforts with stateside coalitions involved in providing assistance to victims of crime, administer the statewide victim notification system, and serve as a clearinghouse for victim complaints; and

WHEREAS, the work of the Crime Victims' Compensation program would be strengthened by a move to the Missouri Department of Public Safety where other statewide programs providing services to crime victims are located; and

WHEREAS, the Missouri State Government Review Commission recommended this transfer in its November 2005 Report; and

WHEREAS, the transfer of the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund would better serve Missouri's citizens by increasing efficiencies and is a component of the Governor's Executive Branch Reorganization Plan of 2007; and

WHEREAS, I am committed to integrating executive branch operations to ensure that the state delivers quality services in the most accessible manner and at the lowest cost to taxpayers.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, MATT BLUNT, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the State of Missouri, including the Omnibus State Reorganization Act of 1974, do hereby order the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Missouri Department of Public Safety to cooperate to:

1. Transfer all the authority, powers, duties, functions, records, personnel, property, contracts, budgets, matters pending, and other pertinent vestiges of the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to the Missouri Department of Public Safety by Type I transfer, as defined under the Reorganization Act of 1974; and

2. Develop mechanisms and processes necessary to effectively transfer the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund to the Missouri Department of Public Safety; and

3. Transfer the responsibility for staff support for the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund from the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

This Order shall become effective no sooner than August 28, 2007, unless disapproved within sixty days of its submission to the First Regular Session of the 94^th General Assembly.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, in the City of Jefferson on this 30^th day of January, 2007.

ATTEST:

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