Victims of Domestic Abuse

Currently, protective orders are only provided during regular court hours to victims of domestic abuse. However, the occurrence of violence has no time frame Ð'- it does not only take place or transpire on a nine to five time clock. Therefore, I propose that

legislation should be pushed forward which allows District commissioners the authority to put temporary

restraining orders on people accused of domestic

violence.

It is important to note that victims may not receive

full protection until the existing false impressions,

held by some judicial and public safety officials,

about the proper issuance and enforcement of

protective orders are rejected. It is often considered

that a protective order, being a civil order, should

not be handled or enforced by police. This type of

power should not be distributed, uncontrollably, to

police officers. Since a court issues a protective

order, some mistakenly believe that the police should

not be able to arrest a person who violates the

protective order because the person is in contempt of

court Ð'- not disobeying the law.

The proposed legislation would destroy these misconceptions by changing the state constitution to allow District commissioners to not only grant

protective orders but also at night and on the weekends to safeguard "victims" of domestic abuse.

Domestic violence is defined as threatened or actual abuse from someone in the victim's immediate family or in his/her home or with whom she/he has a close relationship.

Temporary restraining orders are issued by a court to restrict the conduct of a person while providing a

victim with protection from the activities of an abusive person. A temporary restraining order is