Do you have to continue to send out notifications if the victim has never responded or asked for the notification?
If notification regarding court proceedings has not been requested by the victim does it still have to be sent out? Whom are victims to direct their request of notice to exactly?
Victims must be informed that they must request certain rights in order to exercise them, including notifications regarding court proceedings. Ohio Crime Victim Justice Center developed a form that can be used by law enforcement and prosecutors to fulfill that requirement, pending further legislation. The form allows a victim to elect to exercise or to waive rights. If a victim initially waives rights, and later decide to exercise them, the victim should notify the prosecutor (or the court if a prosecutor is not currently involved). If a victim has not requested notifications of proceedings, there is no need to continue to notify them to absent a statutory provision such as Roberta’s Law making notification “opt-out” rather than “opt-in.”