Legislature passes bill to speed delivery of protective orders
Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff
The House and Senate have signed off on a measure designed to protect domestic violence victims by speeding the delivery of protective orders to law enforcement.
The Senate voted 39-0 on March 4 to approve HB 905, by Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, R-DeLand. The House approved it 113-0 on the same day.
Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, sponsored the companion, SB 654.
“This bill makes a simple change to the domestic violence injunction or restricting order filing process, which could have a huge impact on the safety of the petitioner, or the domestic violence survivor,” Cruz said.
The bill would require a clerk to electronically transmit a protective order — and the sheriff or law enforcement agency to accept it — within 24 hours after being issued by the court.
Current law prohibits a clerk from electronically transferring a protective order unless the sheriff requests it.
Cruz added an amendment that would permit clerks to transmit the court order by facsimile, hand delivery, or certified or registered mail if an internet outage lasts more than 24 hours. Cruz had agreed to delay the implementation date to give clerks and law enforcement agencies more time to address technical issues. But the provision was dropped to reconcile the House and Senate versions.
The bill will take effect October 1, 2022.
Cruz thanked Hillsborough County Court Clerk and Comptroller Cindy Stuart for bringing her the idea.
Stuart told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that her office processes 6,500 protective injunctions per year.
“And to think that those are getting put in the mail in the majority of offices across the state is a public safety issue,” she said. “Time matters. Seconds matter.”
