BILL REQ. #:  H-4713.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/04/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing financial assistance for victims of domestic violence seeking protection orders; amending RCW 26.50.060 and 26.50.070; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes that there are numerous barriers that make it difficult for domestic violence victims to leave their abusers. One such barrier is the lack of financial resources for some domestic violence victims when domestic violence perpetrators often control their victims by, among other things, limiting the victim's access to money and other resources. The legislature intends to provide courts discretion, when issuing protection orders, to grant domestic violence victims temporary financial assistance from the victim's abuser for the protection and safety of the victim and other family or household members sought to be protected.

Sec. 2   RCW 26.50.060 and 2000 c 119 s 15 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon notice and after hearing, the court may provide relief as follows:
     (a) Restrain the respondent from committing acts of domestic violence;
     (b) Exclude the respondent from the dwelling that the parties share, from the residence, workplace, or school of the petitioner, or from the day care or school of a child;
     (c) Prohibit the respondent from knowingly coming within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified distance from a specified location;
     (d) On the same basis as is provided in chapter 26.09 RCW, the court shall make residential provision with regard to minor children of the parties. However, parenting plans as specified in chapter 26.09 RCW shall not be required under this chapter;
     (e) Order the respondent to participate in a domestic violence perpetrator treatment program approved under RCW 26.50.150;
     (f) Order other relief as it deems necessary for the protection or safety of the petitioner and other family or household members sought to be protected, including orders or directives to a peace officer, as allowed under this chapter;
     (g) Require the respondent to pay the administrative court costs and service fees, as established by the county or municipality incurring the expense and to reimburse the petitioner for costs incurred in bringing the action, including reasonable attorneys' fees;
     (h) Restrain the respondent from having any contact with the victim of domestic violence or the victim's children or members of the victim's household;
     (i) Require the respondent to submit to electronic monitoring. The order shall specify who shall provide the electronic monitoring services and the terms under which the monitoring must be performed. The order also may include a requirement that the respondent pay the costs of the monitoring. The court shall consider the ability of the respondent to pay for electronic monitoring;
     (j) Consider the provisions of RCW 9.41.800;
     (k) Order possession and use of essential personal effects. The court shall list the essential personal effects with sufficient specificity to make it clear which property is included; ((and))
     (l) Order the respondent to pay the petitioner for reasonable expenses related to the domestic violence committed by the respondent and that the respondent provide temporary financial assistance to the petitioner or other family member if the respondent customarily provides for or contributes to the support of the petitioner or other family member. The relief granted under this subsection (1)(l) shall be a one-time, temporary order not to exceed ninety days. At any subsequent proceeding for dissolution, legal separation, or invalidity of the marriage, or any subsequent proceeding for the establishment or modification of child support or maintenance, the petitioner shall disclose the amount of temporary financial assistance provided under this subsection and the court or agency shall consider the amount provided in determining property distribution, support, or maintenance; and
     (m) Order use of a vehicle.
     (2) If a protection order restrains the respondent from contacting the respondent's minor children the restraint shall be for a fixed period not to exceed one year. This limitation is not applicable to orders for protection issued under chapter 26.09, 26.10, or 26.26 RCW. With regard to other relief, if the petitioner has petitioned for relief on his or her own behalf or on behalf of the petitioner's family or household members or minor children, and the court finds that the respondent is likely to resume acts of domestic violence against the petitioner or the petitioner's family or household members or minor children when the order expires, the court may either grant relief for a fixed period or enter a permanent order of protection.
     If the petitioner has petitioned for relief on behalf of the respondent's minor children, the court shall advise the petitioner that if the petitioner wants to continue protection for a period beyond one year the petitioner may either petition for renewal pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or may seek relief pursuant to the provisions of chapter 26.09 or 26.26 RCW.
     (3) If the court grants an order for a fixed time period, the petitioner may apply for renewal of the order by filing a petition for renewal at any time within the three months before the order expires. The petition for renewal shall state the reasons why the petitioner seeks to renew the protection order. Upon receipt of the petition for renewal the court shall order a hearing which shall be not later than fourteen days from the date of the order. Except as provided in RCW 26.50.085, personal service shall be made on the respondent not less than five days before the hearing. If timely service cannot be made the court shall set a new hearing date and shall either require additional attempts at obtaining personal service or permit service by publication as provided in RCW 26.50.085 or by mail as provided in RCW 26.50.123. If the court permits service by publication or mail, the court shall set the new hearing date not later than twenty-four days from the date of the order. If the order expires because timely service cannot be made the court shall grant an ex parte order of protection as provided in RCW 26.50.070. The court shall grant the petition for renewal unless the respondent proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the respondent will not resume acts of domestic violence against the petitioner or the petitioner's children or family or household members when the order expires. The court may renew the protection order for another fixed time period or may enter a permanent order as provided in this section. The court may award court costs, service fees, and reasonable attorneys' fees as provided in subsection (1)(((f))) (g) of this section.
     (4) In providing relief under this chapter, the court may realign the designation of the parties as "petitioner" and "respondent" where the court finds that the original petitioner is the abuser and the original respondent is the victim of domestic violence and may issue an ex parte temporary order for protection in accordance with RCW 26.50.070 on behalf of the victim until the victim is able to prepare a petition for an order for protection in accordance with RCW 26.50.030.
     (5) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, no order for protection shall grant relief to any party except upon notice to the respondent and hearing pursuant to a petition or counter-petition filed and served by the party seeking relief in accordance with RCW 26.50.050.
     (6) The court order shall specify the date the order expires if any. The court order shall also state whether the court issued the protection order following personal service, service by publication, or service by mail and whether the court has approved service by publication or mail of an order issued under this section.
     (7) If the court declines to issue an order for protection or declines to renew an order for protection, the court shall state in writing on the order the particular reasons for the court's denial.

Sec. 3   RCW 26.50.070 and 2000 c 119 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Where an application under this section alleges that irreparable injury could result from domestic violence if an order is not issued immediately without prior notice to the respondent, the court may grant an ex parte temporary order for protection, pending a full hearing, and grant relief as the court deems proper, including an order:
     (a) Restraining any party from committing acts of domestic violence;
     (b) Restraining any party from going onto the grounds of or entering the dwelling that the parties share, from the residence, workplace, or school of the other, or from the day care or school of a child until further order of the court;
     (c) Prohibiting any party from knowingly coming within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified distance from a specified location;
     (d) Restraining any party from interfering with the other's custody of the minor children or from removing the children from the jurisdiction of the court;
     (e) Restraining any party from having any contact with the victim of domestic violence or the victim's children or members of the victim's household; ((and))
     (f) Restraining any party from transferring, removing, encumbering, concealing, or in any way disposing of any shared or joint property except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life, and, if appropriate, requiring the person so restrained to notify the petitioner, in a manner deemed appropriate by the court, of any proposed extraordinary expenditures made after the order is issued; and
     (g) Considering the provisions of RCW 9.41.800.
     (2) Irreparable injury under this section includes but is not limited to situations in which the respondent has recently threatened petitioner with bodily injury or has engaged in acts of domestic violence against the petitioner.
     (3) The court shall hold an ex parte hearing in person or by telephone on the day the petition is filed or on the following judicial day.
     (4) An ex parte temporary order for protection shall be effective for a fixed period not to exceed fourteen days or twenty-four days if the court has permitted service by publication under RCW 26.50.085 or by mail under RCW 26.50.123. The ex parte order may be reissued. A full hearing, as provided in this chapter, shall be set for not later than fourteen days from the issuance of the temporary order or not later than twenty-four days if service by publication or by mail is permitted. Except as provided in RCW 26.50.050, 26.50.085, and 26.50.123, the respondent shall be personally served with a copy of the ex parte order along with a copy of the petition and notice of the date set for the hearing.
     (5) Any order issued under this section shall contain the date and time of issuance and the expiration date and shall be entered into a statewide judicial information system by the clerk of the court within one judicial day after issuance.
     (6) If the court declines to issue an ex parte temporary order for protection the court shall state the particular reasons for the court's denial. The court's denial of a motion for an ex parte order of protection shall be filed with the court.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.