National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws

211 E. Ontario St., Suite 1300, Chicago, IL 60611
tel 312-915-0195, fax 312-915-0187

For Immediate Release

NEW LEGISLATION WILL AID ENFORCEMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION ORDERS

August 3, 2000 - The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) today approved legislation that establishes a uniform effective system for the enforcement of domestic violence protection orders across state lines.

The Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act, promulgated at the Annual Meeting of NCCUSL in St. Augustine, Florida, provides a uniform set of procedures and rules to facilitate the interstate enforcement of civil and of qualified criminal domestic protection orders as stipulated in an important provision of the 1994 Federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Referred to as the full faith and credit provision, it directs states, Indian tribes and U.S. territories to honor "valid" protection orders issued by other jurisdictions and to treat those orders as if they were their own.

VAWA was an essential step toward providing protection, and is notable for its national scope and brevity. But the interstate enforcement provision of the VAWA left several important questions unanswered, and left states to their own discretion as how to set up procedures to effectively implement enforcement.

For example, the Federal act does not answer the question of whether states are required to enforce provisions of foreign orders that would not be authorized by the law of the enforcing state. VAWA is silent on whether protected individuals seeking enforcement of an order must register or file the order with the enforcing state before action can be taken on their behalf. And it is vague about whether custody and support orders are included. There are other unanswered questions as well.

In recent years, some states have enacted their own enabling legislation, but these statutes vary greatly both in the method and the extent to which they will enforce foreign protection orders. If enacted nationwide, the new Uniform Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act should eliminate existing problems.

The new act has two purposes. It defines the meaning of full faith and credit in the context of the enforcement of domestic violence protection orders. It also establishes uniform procedures for their effective interstate enforcement.

Under the uniform act:

• Courts must enforce the terms of protection orders of other states as if they were their own, until the order expires, regardless of which state the victim has entered.
• Enforcing states must enforce all the terms of the order, even if that order provides relief that would be unavailable under the laws of the enforcing jurisdiction.
• Terms of orders that concern custody and visitation matters are enforceable, if issued for the purpose of protection. Terms that concern support are not.
• Enforcement mechanisms must be applied to orders issued before the effective date of the uniform act.

The Act envisions that enforcement will require law enforcement officers in enforcing states to rely on probable cause judgments that a valid order has been violated. Law enforcement officers as well as other government agencies will be encouraged to rely on individual judgments based on probable cause by the act's inclusion of a broad immunity provision, protecting agencies of the government acting in good faith.

The uniform act, again filling a gap in VAWA, does not require registration of protection orders with the enforcing state and jurisdictions can not make registration a condition for full faith and credit. But the act does include an optional registration process to make it as easy as possible for the protected individual to register the order and facilitate its enforcement.

"Victims of domestic violence need to be provided protection, regardless of where the orders protecting them are issued," says Marian P. Opala, chair of the Drafting Committee. "Uniform passage of the new Interstate Enforcement of Domestic Violence Protection Orders Act will enable courts around the country to treat like cases consistently, more effectively serving the needs of domestic violence victims."

In addition to Commissioner Opala, other members of the Drafting Committee were: Deborah E. Behr, Alaska; Wanda Williams Finnie, New Jersey; Shaun P. Haas, Wisconsin; Roger P. Morgan, Connecticut; Peter Munson, Texas; Anne Bowen Poulin, Pennsylvania; Battle R. Robinson, Delaware; Robert B Webster, Michigan.