SD17 - Report of the Commission on Family Violence Prevention


Executive Summary:
The Commission on Family Violence Prevention was established pursuant to House Joint Resolution 279 in 1994 and continued through Senate Joint Resolution 27 in 1996, House Joint Resolution 663 in 1997, and SJR 71 in 1998. The Commission has involved a broad base of citizens in its work this year: 205 individuals on task groups, 50 individuals on subcommittees, and 32 individuals on the Commission. The Commission builds on the work of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council convened in July, 1993 by Harry L. Carrico, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Commission is a department within the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia However, as a legislative commission it submits a Report to the General Assembly each year.

DUTIES

For 1998, the Commission is directed, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 71, to study family violence, including domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, sexual assault, and stalking, to: (i) further study the impact of family violence on children; (i) examine the policies of the Commonwealth and the procedures applicable in cases of marital sexual assault; (iii) determine services, resources, and legislation which may be needed to further address, prevent, and treat family violence; (iv) assess the development of family violence fatality review teams; (v) study juvenile offenders involved in family violence; (vi) draft methods to encourage cooperation in the prosecution of cases; and (vii) assist and support community development of appropriate localized family violence prevention and response programs. In 1999, the Commission plans to conclude its work on the topics listed in the Legislative Recommendations and Workplan.

ORGANIZATION

The Commission itself is made up of 32 members, as dictated by legislation. These members act on recommendations from three subcommittees: Community Response/Professional Awareness, Law Enforcement, and Legislative/Judicial.

Each of the 32 commission members participates on one of the subcommittees. Additional citizens make up the membership of the subcommittees. The subcommittee members act on recommendations from task groups. These task groups do the bulk of the research for the Commission. They meet frequently throughout the year, while the Commission and its subcommittees meet only 3-4 times per year.

During the 1999 General Assembly Session, the Commission is presenting legislation based on the work of the task groups and testimony received at public hearings convened by the Commission during 1998. After reviewing the recommendations of all the subcommittees, the Commission, at its December 4, 1998 meeting, adopted the following legislative agenda:

LEGISLATION

• Amend 18.2-57.2, 16.1-253.4 and 19.2-81.3 to make clear that officers are not required to seek an Emergency Protective order and magistrates are not required to issue such orders in assault & battery cases involving juveniles.

• Introduce legislation to define the purpose and scope of domestic violence fatality review teams and enable localities to convene local teams; and direct that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth provide "surveillance" (a form of public health reporting from the medical examiners' files) as a mechanism for collecting domestic violence fatality information, develop model protocols for fatality reviews, and provide technical assistance to local teams.

• Amend § 18.2-61,18.267.1, 18.2-67.2 (the marital rape, forcible sodomy and object sexual penetration statutes) to eliminate the word "serious" modifying physical injury.

• Amend § 18.2-67.2:1, the marital sexual assault statute, to replace "force or present threat of force" with "force, threat or intimidation" to mirror the language in the rape statute.

• Support legislation that would clarify that Court Service Units should accept all petitions for Protective Orders for review by the judge of the juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

BUDGET AMENDMENTS

• Introduce a $48,000 budget amendment for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for to establish a data collection "surveillance" system.

• Introduce a budget amendment for $2,450,000 in the second year to provide funds to the Department of Criminal Justice Services to expand supervision services for adult family violence offenders in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts.

RESOLUTION

• Introduce a resolution that the Commission on Family Violence Prevention be continued to complete its work and submit a final report to the 2000 session of the General Assembly.