Three new enhancements to the Protection Order Registry were deployed on Friday, April 15, 2011.
The first enhancement is a “victim notification” service which allows the petitioner to be notified when their order of protection has been granted, served and will terminate. The termination notification will be sent 60 days prior to the actual expiration date. Also, the notification can be sent via e-mail, text or fax, and will only be sent if requested by the petitioner.
Within the first few hours the victim notification service was implemented, acknowledgments of its benefits were being echoed around the state. Judges and advocates alike are pleased that this enhancement will keep victims abreast of the status of their orders. Judge Barbara Crawford, Marion County Criminal Court 21, stated, “In a county where so many protection orders are requested, it is of a particular benefit for the petitioner to receive real-time notification regarding the status of their protection order. Receiving such information can give petitioners a sense of control over his/her safety.” Over 140 notifications were sent the first week the victim notification service was deployed and nearly 300 have been sent as of April 29.
The second enhancement recently launched is the ability to print an English/Spanish version of a protective order. This version prints a sentence, statement or paragraph in English, and is then followed by the Spanish translation directly below that portion of the order. Since its implementation, 29 English/Spanish version of orders have been printed. Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Brown, Clinton, Dubois, Floyd, Lake, Lawrence, Marion, Monroe, St. Joseph, Shelby, Steuben, Vanderburgh and Wayne counties have all issued orders using the English/Spanish version.
In addition to the victim notification and English/Spanish version of orders, JTAC has also launched a POR Public Search site that is being piloted by advocates throughout the state. The pilot is expected to last a few weeks before it is released to the general public. The POR Public Search site will provide the order issuance date, service date, Brady disqualification, and termination/dismissal date if applicable. This information can be obtained when searching by the case number or the last name of the respondent/defendant.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Protection Order Registry or any of its new enhancements, please contact LaJuan Epperson at lepperson@jtac.in.gov or 317-234-2870. Media interested in details can contact Supreme Court Public Information Officer, Kathryn Dolan at kdolan@courts.state.in.us
