Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced the payment plan for distributing the maximum $5 million in tort claim funds to victims of the Indiana State Fair tragedy. With the amount the State has available for victims of the August 13 incident capped at $5 million, the payment protocol guarantees that at least $300,000 will be offered to the estates of each of the seven deceased victims in the stage rigging collapse. Sufficient funds remain to compensate 58 other surviving victims who were among the most seriously injured. The computation works out to payments that are approximately 65 percent of the value of medical bills victims documented when they submitted their claims to the State. Every seriously injured victim who submitted medical records will receive an offer of settlement.

Shortly after the August 13 disaster, Zoeller announced he would distribute the full $5 million in tort claim funds to victims on an expedited basis, without delays and costs from litigation regarding state liability. Zoeller brought in nationally-recognized victim-compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg, who administered victim compensation funds after 9/11, the Virginia Tech shootings and the BP Gulf oil spill, to assist the Attorney General’s Office in devising a protocol for distributing settlement payments to victims of the State Fair tragedy.