Write your victim impact statement in your own words

Answer a few gentle questions at your own pace, and see your answers set out as a statement you can read in court or hand in. You can skip any question and stop whenever you need to.

Start your statement What is a victim impact statement?

Writing, seeing and printing your statement cost nothing, you don’t need an account, and your answers stay on this device.

You don’t have to do this alone

The prosecutor’s office has a victim advocate whose job is to help you. Your advocate can tell you the deadline, who will read your statement and what your court allows.

Find victim services in your state

What goes in a statement

A victim impact statement tells the judge, in your own words, what a crime has done to your life. It is read aloud or handed in before the sentence is decided, and can be given again at a parole hearing.

Who you are.
Who they were, if someone you love died.
How you have felt since the crime.
What the crime did to your body and health.
How your days, work and family have changed.
What the crime has cost you.
Whether you feel safe.
Anything else you want the judge to know.

These are the parts victim advocates’ guides ask about. You answer only the parts that matter to you.

Victim impact statement

Grace Holloway
For the sentencing hearing on November 12, 2026

Your Honor,

My name is Grace Holloway. I am 61, and I have been a school librarian for nineteen years. I live with my husband, Tom, and we have three grandchildren.

Since the crash I have been frightened in a way I never was before. I don’t walk anywhere after dark, and when I hear tires on a wet road I freeze. I see a counselor every week. Some days I am angry, and some days I am only tired and sad.

My pelvis and my left wrist were broken. I had two surgeries and spent nine days in the hospital, and I used a walker for two months. I still can’t stand for more than an hour, and my doctor says my wrist may never bend fully again.

Before the crash, I knew every child at my school by name. I was off work for eleven weeks, and when I went back I couldn’t carry books or kneel to read with the youngest children. Tom took unpaid leave to look after me. For a while our grandchildren were scared of the walker and didn’t want to visit.

We have paid for surgery, physical therapy and counseling beyond what our insurance covered, and I lost eleven weeks of pay. That money was meant for our retirement. I have kept the receipts for the prosecutor’s office.

I don’t want to spend the rest of my life afraid of the road. I want the court to know that one choice to drive that night changed every part of my year. He should spend years in prison thinking about it.

Thank you for listening.

Grace Holloway
November 3, 2026

An example we wrote, so you can see how a finished statement looks. Grace is not a real person.

Before you write

Who will read it.

The judge, the lawyers and usually the defendant will read or hear your statement. Leave out your address and anything you don’t want them to know.

Your own words.

Only you can describe what the crime did to your life, and your statement doesn’t need to be perfect.

Speak to the judge.

Write to the judge rather than to the person who did this, and describe what the crime changed rather than what happened at trial.

What it costs

Writing your statement, seeing it as you go, the large-print reading copy and printing from your browser cost nothing. A print-ready PDF and a Word file you can change later, for example before a parole hearing, cost $9 once.

Questions

Can you write my statement for me?

No. The judge needs to hear from you, so we ask the questions, you answer in your own words, and we set your answers out in order.

When is my statement due?

Each court sets its own date. Your victim advocate will tell you the deadline and where to send your statement.

How long should my statement be?

The court guides we read set no length. Keep to what the crime has done to your life; we show how many minutes your statement takes to read aloud.

Can someone read my statement for me?

Usually, yes. A family member, a friend or your victim advocate can often read it for you. Ask your advocate what your court allows.

Can I ask for a sentence?

That depends on your court, and in a death-penalty case family members can’t. Ask your victim advocate first. Your statement leaves this part out unless you add it.

Can a teenager write their own statement?

Yes, you can write your own statement here if you are 13 to 17 and the crime happened to you. Your victim advocate can tell you how your court takes a statement from a teenager. Before you hand it in, show it to a parent, a guardian or your victim advocate. If the person who hurt you lives with you, show it to your advocate or another adult you trust instead. For a child under 13, a parent or guardian writes the statement.

Is this legal advice?

No. This site is not a law firm and is not a substitute for a lawyer’s advice. Your victim advocate can answer questions about your case.

Do you keep my answers?

No. Your answers stay in this browser on this device, and we never ask for a case number or the name of the person who did this. You can clear everything from this device with one button.

Write your victim impact statement in your own words

You don’t have to do this alone

What goes in a statement

Victim impact statement

Before you write

Who will read it.

Your own words.

Speak to the judge.

What it costs

Questions

Guides

Talk to someone now

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

VictimConnect Resource Center

National Domestic Violence Hotline

Your victim advocate