HB 1912 Summary

• Courts are prohibited from requiring domestic abuse victims to seek legal sanctions (divorce, separation, paternity, or criminal proceedings) before hearing a protective order petition.

• Timeframe for scheduling full hearings on protective orders reduced from twenty (20) days to fourteen (14) days of filing; expedited to seventy-two (72) hours when a minor child has been removed from the residence.

• Protective orders cannot impose terms compromising victim safety, including mediation, couples counseling, family counseling, or joint victim-offender counseling sessions; defendants must pay for their own counseling costs and may be ordered to pay victim's counseling costs.

• Peace officers must arrest persons violating protective orders if reasonable cause exists; courts must set reasonable bond while considering safety of protected individuals.

• Administrative Office of the Courts required to provide annual domestic violence training for judges; effective date November 1, 2013.