PRINTER'S NO. 800
No. 702 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY CORMAN, WONDERLING, C. WILLIAMS, BRIGHTBILL, WOZNIAK, TOMLINSON, RHOADES, MUSTO, KITCHEN, HELFRICK, FERLO, DENT AND BOSCOLA, MAY 2, 2003
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, MAY 2, 2003
AN ACT 1 Providing for the Office of Identity Theft Victim Support in the 2 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency; 3 establishing an Identity Theft Advisory Board; and making an 4 appropriation. 5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 6 hereby enacts as follows: 7 Section 1. Short title. 8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Identity 9 Theft Victim Support Act. 10 Section 2. Declaration of policy. 11 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: 12 (1) Identity theft is a particularly lucrative type of 13 crime and is the fastest growing white collar crime in this 14 country. 15 (2) Identity theft severely impacts the lives of its 16 victims, especially in terms of their privacy and financial 17 security. 18 (3) Identity theft is increasing throughout the United
1 States and in this Commonwealth. 2 (4) The victims of identity theft need assistance in 3 recovering from the crime. 4 (5) The citizens of this Commonwealth should be informed 5 about prevention of identity theft. 6 Section 3. Definitions. 7 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 8 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 9 context clearly indicates otherwise: 10 "Board." The Identity Theft Advisory Board established in 11 section 5. 12 "Commission." The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and 13 Delinquency. 14 "Identity theft." A person commits the offense of identify 15 theft of another person if he possesses or uses personal 16 information of another person without the consent of that other 17 person to further any unlawful purpose. 18 "Office." The Office of Identity Theft Victim Support 19 established in section 4. 20 "Personal information." Any public personal information or 21 private personal information. 22 "Private personal information." Includes all information not 23 encompassed by public personal information. 24 "Public personal information." Includes a person's name, 25 sex, address and listed telephone number. 26 Section 4. Office. 27 (a) Establishment.-- 28 (1) The Office of Identity Theft Victim Support is 29 established within the commission. 30 (2) The office shall be headed by an executive director 20030S0702B0800 - 2 -
1 appointed by the commission. 2 (3) The executive director may hire staff for the office 3 as necessary to carry out the office's powers and duties. 4 (b) Functions of office.--The office shall support victims 5 of identity theft by: 6 (1) Assisting victims in reestablishing their financial 7 and other commercial records. 8 (2) Assisting victims in reclaiming their identities. 9 (3) Directing victims to appropriate law enforcement 10 agencies. 11 (4) Assisting victims in rectifying erroneous judicial 12 records that result from the victim's identity theft. 13 Section 5. Board. 14 (a) Establishment.-- 15 (1) The Identity Theft Advisory Board is established as 16 a board within the Office of Identity Theft Victim Support. 17 (2) The board members shall be appointed by the 18 executive director of the office and shall include, but not 19 be limited to, the following: 20 (i) The executive director of the Office of Identity 21 Theft Victim Support, ex officio. 22 (ii) A representative of the Office of Attorney 23 General. 24 (iii) A representative of the Federal Bureau of 25 Investigation. 26 (iv) A representative of an office of the district 27 attorney. 28 (v) A representative of the Pennsylvania State 29 Police. 30 (vi) A representative of a local police agency. 20030S0702B0800 - 3 -
1 (vii) A representative of victims of identity theft. 2 (viii) A postal service inspector. 3 (ix) Any person not above specified whom the 4 executive director may wish to appoint. 5 (3) The executive director of the Office of Identity 6 Theft Victim Support shall serve as chairperson of the board. 7 (b) Duties.--The board shall assist the office in carrying 8 out its functions. The board shall: 9 (1) Compile statistics on identity theft in this 10 Commonwealth. Statistics shall be arranged in terms of number 11 and types of cases. 12 (2) Advise Federal, State and local law enforcement 13 officers on investigation and prosecution of identity theft. 14 (3) Assist victims of identity theft as to corrective 15 and remedial measures to be taken. 16 (4) Inform the public on prevention and detection of 17 identity theft. 18 (5) Take such other appropriate action deemed necessary 19 to assist the office and the executive director. 20 Section 6. Appropriation. 21 The sum of $500,000, or as much thereof as may be necessary, 22 is hereby appropriated to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime 23 and Delinquency for the fiscal year July 1, 2003, to June 30, 24 2004, to carry out the provisions of this act. 25 Section 7. Effective date. 26 This act shall take effect in 60 days. A3L44RLE/20030S0702B0800 - 4 -