ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2738
(By Delegates Webster, Miley, Fleischauer and Longstreth)
[Passed April 8, 2009; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §48-27-802 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; to amend and reenact §48-28-5 of
said code; and to amend and reenact §51-1-21 of said code, all
relating generally to registering domestic violence protective
orders with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-27-802 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that §48-28-5 of said code be
amended and reenacted; and that §51-1-21 of said code be amended
and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 48. DOMESTIC RELATIONS.
ARTICLE 27. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
§48-27-802. Maintenance of registry by State Police.
(a) The West Virginia State Police shall maintain a registry
in which it shall enter certified copies of protective orders
entered by courts from every county in this state pursuant to the provisions of this article and of protection orders issued by a
jurisdiction outside of this state pursuant to its law:
Provided,
That the provisions of this subsection are not effective until a
central automated state law-enforcement information system is
developed.
(b) Effective January 2, 2010, a court which enters a
protective order pursuant to this article shall immediately
register such order in the domestic violence database established
pursuant to the provisions of section twenty-one, article one,
chapter fifty-one of this code. A protected individual who obtains
a protection order from a jurisdiction outside of this State
pursuant to its law or his or her representative as provided in
section five, article twenty-eight of this chapter may register
that order with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals for
entry in the domestic violence database established pursuant to the
provisions of section twenty-one, article one, chapter fifty-one of
this code.
(c) Failure to register an order as provided in this section
shall not affect its enforceability in any county or jurisdiction.
§48-28-5. Registration of order
(a) Any individual may register a foreign protection order in
this state by:
Presenting a certified copy of the order to the West Virginia
Supreme Court of Appeals for registration in accordance with the
provisions of section eight hundred two, article twenty-seven of
this chapter.
(b) An individual registering a foreign protection order shall
file an affidavit by the protected individual stating that, to the
best of the protected individual's knowledge, the order is
currently in effect.
(c) Upon receipt of a foreign protection order for
registration, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals shall:
(1) Register the order in accordance with the provisions of
this section and of section eight hundred two, article twenty-seven
of this chapter;
(2) Furnish to the individual registering the order a copy of
the proof of registration of the order.
(d) A registered foreign protection order that is shown to be
inaccurate or not currently in effect must be corrected or removed
from the registry.
(e) A foreign protection order registered under this article
may be entered in any existing state or federal registry of
protection orders in accordance with applicable law.
(f) A fee may not be charged for the registration of a foreign
protection order.
CHAPTER 51. COURTS AND THEIR OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 1. SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS.
§51-1-21. Authority to maintain domestic violence database.
(a) The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is hereby
authorized to maintain a domestic violence database containing copies of protective orders entered by the courts of this state and
granted pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-seven, chapter
forty-eight of this code. Further, the domestic violence database
shall also include, upon request, protection orders issued by a
jurisdiction outside of this state pursuant to its law.
(b) Only a protected individual who obtains a protection order
from a jurisdiction other than this state pursuant to its law or
his or her representative as provided in section five, article
twenty-eight of this chapter may register that order with the West
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
(c) Failure to register an order as provided in this section
shall not affect its enforceability in any county or jurisdiction.