Study: Abuse Victims Not Following Up On Protection Orders

Victims of domestic violence drop nearly half the court orders issued to protect them within 14 days, a new Kootenai County study shows.

The study also finds the courthouse halls are becoming a site for potential danger from batterers who know just where to find their victims.

Diana Meyer, Kootenai County court services director, studied all the protection orders issued in 1994. Her report suggests several ways to improve the protection order system. Among them are these:

Have a victim’s advocate available at the courthouse or prosecutor’s office to help victims fill out requests for protection orders.

Have a separate place where victims can safely fill out and wait for temporary protection orders.

Have a person available throughout the day to grant temporary protection orders so victims do not have to wait as long.

The study, which was released this week, shows that 661 people in Kootenai County requested domestic violence protection orders during 1994.

That’s three times as many as in 1989, when only 217 people applied.

The caseload has overwhelmed judges, the court system and law enforcement agencies, the study reports.

“It’s increased our workload exponentially,” said Magistrate Judge Eugene Marano. “One judge had to handle 17 protection order petitions in a day, in addition to doing all the rest of his work. It makes for a very hectic day.”

Protection orders prohibit batterers from calling, writing or using a third person to contact their victims.

A domestic violence victim must first file a petition for a temporary protection order. Within 14 days, the victim must appear in court to receive a full 90-day protection order. After that, the protection order may be extended for a year.

Of 600-plus people who applied for temporary protection orders, 565 were granted protection, the study found.

But Meyer found that only half of those victims actually pursued the full 90-day orders. The others either had them dismissed or failed to show up at court to have them extended.

Holladay Sanderson, director of the Coeur d’Alene Women’s Center understands why - from threats to promises that it won’t happen again.

“They have to deal with so much. They have to deal with the fear and the intimidation and the sweet words,” she said.

Domestic situations are considered some of the most volatile the court has to deal with.

At the Kootenai County Courthouse, violence victims sometimes sit for hours in the hallway waiting for a judge to consider their petition.

Batterers often know where their victims are and can walk into the courthouse and harass them, Meyer said. That puts victims and court employees in danger.

Clerk Lanae Robinson said she’s had angry people yell, cuss and pound on her counter.

She said clerks have had to call bailiffs to help split up screaming couples.

“If they start shooting, what can we do?” said Linda High, a court clerk.