In 1981, the West Virginia Legislature enacted legislation (WV Code §14-2A) creating the crime victims program within the West Virginia Court of Claims, renamed the Legislative Claims Commission by statute in 2017, declaring that "a primary purpose of government is to provide for the safety of citizens and the inviolability of their property." This Act provides for compensation to innocent victims of crime who have suffered personal injury and who have incurred out-of-pocket losses as a result of criminally injurious conduct.