Guam committee hears support for Jane Flores’ nomination to Criminal Injuries Compensation Commission
February 06, 2026 | General Government Operations and Appropriations , Legislative, Guam, International
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Senator Atelo Tairi opened a public hearing Feb. 6, 2025, on Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero’s nomination of Jane Flores to a four‑year term on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Commission (CICC), the panel that adjudicates claims and authorizes payments to victims of violent crime.
Elizabeth Barrett Anderson, retired Superior Court judge and chair of the CICC, told the committee she has known Flores for more than 20 years and urged prompt confirmation. "She's the right stuff and I think she will be a very very strong commissioner," Anderson said, citing Flores’s experience in government and with victim services.
Anderson described the commission as operational since 2016 and said recent statutory and regulatory changes (a 2023 statute and Guam Administrative Rules and Regulations) strengthened victim confidentiality. Anderson also said the commission currently has multiple vacancies — including a seat designated for a youth member — and has three new Office of the Attorney General (OAG) staff assigned to support the commission.
Karen Carpenter, a volunteer with Victim Advocates Reaching Out (Vero), testified Flores’s grant‑management skills and history of attendance at meetings qualify her to serve. "She really does understand victims," Carpenter said, adding Flores’s experience with federal subgrants positions her to help keep expenses allowable and within grant parameters.
Flores, a recent government retiree (she said she retired Jan. 30 after 16 years of service), told the committee she managed nearly $1,000,000 in annual federal formula grants at the Bureau of Women's Affairs and helped secure $3,000,000 in discretionary grants for projects serving victims. "I will dedicate my time on the commission to improving our island services to victims of violent crime," Flores said.
Committee members and witnesses focused much of the discussion on capacity, outreach and funding. Anderson characterized the CICC’s VOCA grant as reimbursement‑based — meaning victims or partners often must front expenses before being reimbursed — and suggested the commission pursue nongovernmental donations to provide upfront assistance. She told the committee the OAG personnel assigned to help the CICC have a collective budget that testimony described as "about $102,162,000" (as stated in the hearing record) and recommended "at least $350,000" be added to the Attorney General’s budget to stabilize an executive director position and the commission’s operations.
Anderson and others urged better public information — updated OAG/CICC forms, informational videos and a dedicated web presence linking victim‑service organizations so more victims know how to apply — while warning that greater outreach will increase demand for services and require sustained staffing and funding.
Senator Tairi closed the hearing by inviting written testimony for five days and said she will try to place the nomination on the next session agenda to expedite confirmation so the CICC can reach quorum and better serve victims.
The committee did not take a vote at this hearing; the record remains open for five days for written submissions.
Elizabeth Barrett Anderson, retired Superior Court judge and chair of the CICC, told the committee she has known Flores for more than 20 years and urged prompt confirmation. "She's the right stuff and I think she will be a very very strong commissioner," Anderson said, citing Flores’s experience in government and with victim services.
Anderson described the commission as operational since 2016 and said recent statutory and regulatory changes (a 2023 statute and Guam Administrative Rules and Regulations) strengthened victim confidentiality. Anderson also said the commission currently has multiple vacancies — including a seat designated for a youth member — and has three new Office of the Attorney General (OAG) staff assigned to support the commission.
Karen Carpenter, a volunteer with Victim Advocates Reaching Out (Vero), testified Flores’s grant‑management skills and history of attendance at meetings qualify her to serve. "She really does understand victims," Carpenter said, adding Flores’s experience with federal subgrants positions her to help keep expenses allowable and within grant parameters.
Flores, a recent government retiree (she said she retired Jan. 30 after 16 years of service), told the committee she managed nearly $1,000,000 in annual federal formula grants at the Bureau of Women's Affairs and helped secure $3,000,000 in discretionary grants for projects serving victims. "I will dedicate my time on the commission to improving our island services to victims of violent crime," Flores said.
Committee members and witnesses focused much of the discussion on capacity, outreach and funding. Anderson characterized the CICC’s VOCA grant as reimbursement‑based — meaning victims or partners often must front expenses before being reimbursed — and suggested the commission pursue nongovernmental donations to provide upfront assistance. She told the committee the OAG personnel assigned to help the CICC have a collective budget that testimony described as "about $102,162,000" (as stated in the hearing record) and recommended "at least $350,000" be added to the Attorney General’s budget to stabilize an executive director position and the commission’s operations.
Anderson and others urged better public information — updated OAG/CICC forms, informational videos and a dedicated web presence linking victim‑service organizations so more victims know how to apply — while warning that greater outreach will increase demand for services and require sustained staffing and funding.
Senator Tairi closed the hearing by inviting written testimony for five days and said she will try to place the nomination on the next session agenda to expedite confirmation so the CICC can reach quorum and better serve victims.
The committee did not take a vote at this hearing; the record remains open for five days for written submissions.
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