HB 135 Summary

• Authorizes chancery and county courts to establish domestic abuse courts, with municipal and justice courts authorized to participate in county-level programs.

• Defines domestic abuse courts as focused on victim safety and offender accountability through judicial monitoring, coordination with social services, and centralized compliance monitoring of civil protection orders and treatment orders.

• Requires the Administrative Office of Courts to develop uniform operational standards including provisions for establishment, funding, procedures, referral protocols, participant eligibility, and court roles in assessment, referral, case management, and supervision.

• Creates the Domestic Abuse Court Fund in the State Treasury to provide supplemental funding to all domestic abuse courts from legislative appropriations, federal grants, and assessments on criminal violations.

• Increases state assessments on traffic violations, implied consent law violations, game and fish violations, misdemeanors, and felonies by $1.00 per violation to fund domestic abuse court programs, effective July 1, 2020.