Deadline looms for eugenics compensation fund

As of Thursday, the state Office for Justice of Sterilization Victims had received 630 claim forms from potential Eugenics Board sterilization victims. The office has forwarded 465 of those to the state Industrial Commission, which handles all tort claims against the state and will be responsible for determining whether a claimant is eligible for compensation.

The remaining forms have been logged as valid claims and are either missing information or require additional research before they can be processed.

Lawmakers last year set aside $10 million in the state budget to provide compensation to victims of the eugenics program, which ran between 1929 and 1974. The exact payment per victim will depend on how many apply.

As many as 1,800 victims may still be alive, but as of last year, the state's efforts to find them had yielded only 176 people. Families of victims who have already died aren't eligible for compensation.

The Office of Justice for Sterilization Victims is trying to notify as many victims of the sterilization program as possible about the deadline to apply for compensation. The state sent about 1,000 direct-mail pieces to identified victims, made hundreds of telephone calls and partnered with other state agencies on outreach efforts.