20.26.102    PROGRAM AND ELIGIBILITY

(1) There is a program that may pay education expenses for exonerated persons. The department may pay educational expenses for an exonerated person as described in these rules. Educational reimbursement is contingent upon legislative appropriation of funds for this purpose.

(2) To be eligible for educational reimbursement the exonerated person must have:

(a) been convicted of a felony criminal offense in the state of Montana;

(b) been imprisoned in a state prison as described in 53-30-101, MCA, or in a prison out-of-state as a result of transfer through the interstate compact as a result of the conviction;

(c) had the felony criminal offense for which the exonerated person was imprisoned overturned or dismissed by a court of competent jurisdiction; and

(d) had the conviction overturned or dismissed as a result of postconviction forensic DNA testing.

(3) An exonerated person is eligible to receive benefits under these rules for ten years after the exonerated person's release from incarceration.

History: 53-1-214, MCA; IMP, 53-1-214, MCA; NEW, 2012 MAR p. 1632, Eff. 8/10/12.