Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., speaks about the new advocate access to Indiana's Protection Order Registry.
The Protection Order Registry is taking another major step towards helping Hoosiers obtain Protection Orders when they have been victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or stalking. Effective tomorrow, July 1, JTAC is beginning a pilot program that allows Victim’s Advocates to assist petitioners to complete an on line petition and confidential form to be filed with the County Clerk. An information and announcement meeting was held on June 26 for the pilot counties. Representatives from Allen, Elkhart, Grant, Madison, Marion, Tippecanoe, and Wabash counties’ domestic violence shelters and County Clerks offices attended the meeting.
Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. opened the meeting by announcing that the Protection Order Registry will be state wide as of July 1. He expressed his thanks to all the people that worked to make the Registry the success that it has become. He specifically mentioned the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for their assistance in obtaining the grant money to fund the project and the County Clerks as they bear the brunt of the additional work to get the cases initiated in the Registry.
JTAC Director Mary DePrez also expressed her thanks to everyone involved in the Protection Order Registry implementation and went on to announce the new Protection Order Registry Public Access project. LaJuan Epperson, the Protection Order Registry Project Manager, explained the details of the application and how it interfaces with the Registry. A demonstration of the new application and interface followed. The information captured in the new application is imported directly into the Protection Order Registry which initiates the case and reduces the data entry required by the Clerks or Courts.
Agencies included in the pilot are: the Allen County YWCA, the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, Hands of Hope in Madison County, Alternatives, Inc. in Madison County, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Julian Center in Marion County, the Indianapolis Police Department Domestic Violence Unit, the Tippecanoe County YWCA, the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office Victim’s Advocate, Elkhart County Family Services, the Marion Police Department, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
