RD46 - HJR 672 - Procedures Involved with Protective Orders


Executive Summary:
During the 2001 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, Delegate Brian J. Moran introduced House Joint Resolution 672 (HJ 672) )(*1), directing the Virginia State Crime Commission to study procedures involving protective orders. Specifically, the study resolution identified the following areas for analysis: (1) whether to extend the time during which preliminary protective orders may be served; (2) whether to allow the service of final protective orders by mail when the respondent fails to appear at the hearing; and, (3) whether to make the third or subsequent violations of a protective order a Class 6 felony. During the 2001 General Assembly Session, HJ 672 was tabled in the House Rules Committee and referred to the Family Violence Sub-Committee (the Sub-Committee) (*2), a standing sub-committee established under the Virginia State Crime Commission, to study and present findings and recommendations to the Crime Commission in 2002. Noting that more factual and statistical data needed to be collected before the Crime Commission could support any recommendation to increase the penalties for violation of a protective order, the Crime Commission recommended that HJ 672 be continued for further study by the Subcommittee and a task force be formed to continue studying the service issues involved with preliminary protective orders. The Crime Commission presented an interim report in 2002 with the final report, written findings, and recommendations to be presented to the Governor and the 2003 Session of the Virginia General Assembly. As a result of the continued study effort, the following recommendation was made concerning the procedures involved with protective orders:

Recommendation

The Family Violence Subcommittee shall institute a Data Collection Project that requires the Subcommittee to become a central repository and collect Virginia Protective Order information from the Virginia State Police on a monthly basis from July 1, 2002 through July 1, 2003.
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(*1) House Joint Resolution 672 (2001). See Attachment 1.
(*2) Family Violence Sub-Committee, Protective Order Task Force Membership 2002. See Attachment 2.