When the offender is released: who tells you

It is the right of the victim of certain violent crimes to be told by the State when the accused or convicted person is out, and to request protection in some of those situations. It is not a procedure you open: it is a duty the Act imposes on the court, the Parole Board or Corrections, depending on which route the person left by. Act 163-2000 gives a name and a place to whoever must make that call inside the correctional system.

Article 1 of Act 91-1988 names victims of crimes against life, against bodily integrity, rape, robbery and assault, all of them including the degree of attempt. And it adds an open category worth knowing because it reaches furthest: crimes where the complaint or accusation shows elements of intimidation, force or violence, whether physical or mental. The Act does not require the victim to request the notification or to enrol in any register to be entitled to it. For the Article 3 protection, a request is required.

• The victim must be notified when the accused or convict is in the free community by being on bail, having a suspended sentence, having parole, enjoying a community pass, or having escaped from the institution (Act 91-1988, Article 1).Verified against the official source
• The duty to notify falls on the court where bail was posted or the suspended sentence granted; on the Parole Board and the Corrections Administration in parole cases; and on the Corrections Administration in community-pass and escape cases (Act 91-1988, Article 2).Verified against the official source
• If the victim is receiving the protection benefits of Act 77-1986, the notification duty falls on the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses (Act 91-1988, Article 2).Verified against the official source
• When the victim requests it, the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses must provide protection where the accused is on bail, or the convict is on a community pass or has escaped, while the inmate remains outside the institution (Act 91-1988, Article 3).Verified against the official source
• In each correctional institution there are Liaison Officers with Victims and Witnesses of Crime, designated by the Assistant Administrator for Programmes and Services of the Corrections Administration (Act 163-2000, Section 2).Verified against the official source
• Any failure to comply with Act 163-2000 gives no basis for a cause of action against the State, its officials, agents or employees, but does carry disciplinary sanctions for whoever fails in their duty of notification (Act 163-2000, Section 2).Verified against the official source

• The request for protection, because Article 3 of Act 91-1988 conditions protection on the victim asking for it. The Act publishes no form or format for that request.

1. 1

   Step 1: The five situations where they must tell you

   Article 1 of Act 91-1988 lists them and it is worth being clear about them because who is responsible depends on which. The victim must be notified when the accused or convict is in the free community because: they are on bail; a suspended sentence was granted; parole was granted; they are enjoying a community pass; or they have escaped from the institution where they were held. Five different ways out, and the Act treats all of them as situations where the victim has a right to know.

2. 2

   Step 2: Which crimes are covered

   The same Article 1 defines the universe. It is victims of crimes against life, against bodily integrity, rape, robbery and assault, all of them including the degree of attempt. And then comes the category that reaches furthest: as well as those crimes where the complaint or accusation shows elements of intimidation, force or violence, whether physical or mental. Note where the Act puts the reference point: on what emerges from the complaint or the accusation, not on the name of the crime. That is why it is worth reading that whole sentence before assuming your case is outside it.

3. 3

   Step 3: Who owes you the notice depends on how they got out

   Article 2 divides the duty and does not leave it with a single office. In bail and suspended-sentence cases, the obligation belongs to the court where bail was posted or the suspended sentence granted. In parole cases, to the Parole Board and the Corrections Administration. In community-pass and escape cases, to the Corrections Administration. There is also a rule that displaces all the above: where the victim is receiving the protection benefits of Act 77-1986, the Act for the Protection of Witnesses and Victims, the notification duty falls on the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses. Knowing which of the four is yours is what tells you which door to knock on when the notice did not arrive.

4. 4

   Step 4: Protection is narrower than notice

   Here is the precision most worth knowing, because people assume notice and protection travel together and the Act does not treat them alike. Article 3 provides that, when the victim so requests, protection must be provided by the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses in cases where the accused is on bail, or the convict is enjoying a community pass, or has escaped from the penal institution, while the inmate remains outside the institution. Count the situations: three. Suspended sentence and parole, which are letters (b) and (c) of Article 1, do not appear in Article 3’s list. Notification covers five situations; requested protection, three. And in those three it must be asked for: it does not switch itself on.

5. 5

   Step 5: The Liaison Officer, and why it exists

   Act 163-2000 was born of a practical problem its own statement of motives describes: the Bill of Rights of Victims and Witnesses gave the victim the right to be informed of post-sentence proceedings, but placed on them the burden of going to request that information, and in practice many victims did not even know which institution the person was in. The Act’s solution was to create a post with a name. Its Section 2 provides that the Assistant Administrator for Programmes and Services of the Corrections Administration shall designate the officials who will carry out Article 2 of Act 22-1988, and that those officials shall be called Liaison Officers with Victims and Witnesses of Crime. If you are going to ask inside the correctional system, that is the post to ask for.

6. 6

   Step 6: What happens if they do not tell you

   Act 163-2000 answers this head-on in the same Section 2, and it is worth knowing before counting on a remedy that does not exist. Any failure to comply with that Act shall give no basis for a cause of action against the State, its officials, agents or employees. But the same sentence continues: it shall carry disciplinary sanctions for the official, agent or employee who fails in their duty of notification. That is, the route is not suing the State for the breach; the route the Act does open is the disciplinary one against whoever failed. Act 91-1988, for its part, says nothing about remedies: it imposes the duty and stops there.

It depends which route the person left by, and Article 2 says so: the court where bail was posted or the suspended sentence granted; the Parole Board together with Corrections if it was parole; and Corrections if it was a community pass or an escape. If you already receive the protection benefits of Act 77-1986, the duty is the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses’, which is also the one that provides the Article 3 protection when you request it. Inside the correctional system the post to ask for is the Liaison Officer with Victims and Witnesses of Crime. Neither Act publishes addresses, telephones, forms or portals, and we do not guess government internet addresses.

• Believing notice and protection are the same thing: notification covers five situations, requested protection only three.
• Expecting automatic protection because you were notified: Article 3 conditions it on the victim requesting it.
• Thinking protection applies when they got a suspended sentence or parole: those two letters are not in Article 3’s list.
• Looking for a single responsible office: the duty to notify changes depending on bail, suspended sentence, parole, community pass or escape.
• Ignoring the rule that displaces the duty: if you already receive Act 77-1986 benefits, the one who notifies is the Division for the Protection and Assistance of Victims and Witnesses.
• Assuming your crime is excluded because it is not called robbery or assault: the Act includes crimes where the complaint or accusation shows elements of intimidation, force or violence, physical or mental.
• Forgetting that attempt counts: Article 1 expressly includes the degree of attempt in the crimes it names.
• Believing you must enrol in some register to be notified: Act 91-1988 does not require it.
• Counting on suing the State if you were not notified: Act 163-2000 expressly excludes that cause of action and leaves only disciplinary sanctions.
• Not asking for the Liaison Officer with Victims and Witnesses of Crime: it is the post the Act creates in each correctional institution for this.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico

  Justicia

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Act 163-2000, Liaison Officers with Victims and Witnesses of Crime

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  bvirtualogp.pr.gov