Victims of violence in Indiana can now file petitions seeking court protection orders electronically from the privacy and safety of a victim advocate’s office or a domestic violence shelter. Over 250 victim advocates in more than 79 counties have been given access and trained to use a new Advocate Access site for the statewide Protection Order Registry (POR). Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute are supporting these efforts.
Indiana’s Protection Order Registry began as a project to speed delivery of orders to law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and to allow sharing of protection order information across county and state lines. The ultimate goal of the project was to increase victim safety through improved recordkeeping practices. The POR has largely been regarded as a success by courts, law enforcement, victim advocates, and the Indiana General Assembly, which enacted a law in 2009 requiring courts to use the system. That is when the Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC) staff turned its attention to extending the reach of the Registry so that victim advocates could use the system.
“The process of filing for a protection order is safer and more relaxed, and…victims are able to give a more complete and thorough account of their experiences.”
“I was excited when protection orders first became electronic,” said Linda Wilk, Director of Hands of Hope, a division of Family Service Society, Inc., in Marion, Indiana, “but this new access for advocates takes it to a higher level in terms of victim care and protection.”
Victims of violence seeking a court protection order before the implementation of this system had to visit a county clerk’s office and describe the intimate details of their abuse—an often intimidating experience. Now, a victim can sit in the privacy of an advocate’s office or a room at a shelter and tell her story without fear of being overheard or spotted by someone she knows, especially her abuser.
“The new Advocate Access to the POR improves victim safety in more ways than one,” said Kerry Hyatt Blomquist, Legal Director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “The process of filing for a protection order is safer and more relaxed, and because of that, victims are able to give a more complete and thorough account of their experiences. This leads to a more thorough request to the court for a protection order, and in turn improved enforcement by the police officers who are better informed by the contents of the petition and the order.”
How it works
An advocate with access to the system is able to interview the person seeking protection while completing an online form through INcite, Indiana’s court extranet. The interview includes a description of events, the relationship of the parties, answers to the standard questions found on the protection order coversheet, and other details needed for the protection order. The online system generates a signature ready PDF petition and a confidential form that can be filed in the clerk’s office by either the victim or the victim’s advocate.
Once the petition is filed with the clerk of court, the clerk can import the electronic petition into the Protection Order Registry, assign a court case number, and immediately forward the petition to the judge for review and approval. For counties using the Odyssey case management system, a new feature is being piloted in DeKalb and Warren counties where the judge and clerk can exchange the case data between the POR and Odyssey. Following the pilot, this new functionality will be released to all counties that are using Odyssey.