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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > January > 28
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Rep. Lehner introduces bill to combat domestic violence
Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, today, Jan. 28, introduced legislation to combat domestic violence - to protect victims, punish abusers and prevent recurring violence.
The issue too often is discussed behind closed doors and “it’s time to bring out the issue into the sunshine,” Lehner said at a Statehouse press conference.
She teamed up with Rep. Marian Harris, D-Columbus, in a bipartisan effort.
University of Dayton graduate Jessica Bennett, 24, of Columbus was at the press conference and said she was in an abusive relationship for four years until just after entering college at 18. The physical scars heal but “it’s the mental and emotional ones” that stay, she said.
Lehner and Harris said they hope hearings will begin soon and would like to see the bill passed this year, although it could be difficult. Lehner said, however, it’s the kind of issue “people are afraid not to take up.”
The bill would:
*Require than an arrest be made when a protective order has been violated.
*Establish judicial review hearings for those convicted of domestic violence.
*Require a person convicted of domestic violence to enroll in a batterer intervention program certified by the court.
*Allow judges to impose a jail term of up to a year for first-time domestic violence offenders, up from six months.
*Create Domestic Violence Fatality Review Boards - Montgomery County already has one, said Lehner.
*Set up a tracking system to collect the number of civil and criminal protection orders issued in each county.
*Allow judges to extend the term of a protection order until the end of probation for a domestic violence offender.
