By Kim Piechowiak
Domestic Violence Training Attorney, Texas Office of Court Administration in Austin
It is often said that a protective order is just a “piece of paper.” However, detailed information that such a document even exists is the key that starts the engine of enforcement, protection, safety, and accountability.
Unfortunately, it came too late for at least one Texas woman. In 2015, Monica Deming of Odessa was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. The young mother had no idea that the perpetrator had been the subject of two prior protective orders, only that his violent behavior toward her and her son was escalating. By the time she had begun taking steps to protect herself, it was too late.
As a result, “Monica’s Law” was passed during the 86th Legislative Session in 2019 to enable the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to provide justice system stakeholders with online access to valuable information regarding both applications for and issued protective orders, along with very limited public access with the explicit consent of the protected parties.
In September 2020, OCA launched the Protective Order Registry, with mandatory entry of applications, protective orders, and magistrate’s orders of emergency protection by the courts beginning on October 15. Courts are required to enter the information into the registry within 24 hours of issuance. As of the date of this writing, more than 40,000 entries are in the system.[1]
PROTECT website
The dedicated website for law enforcement and prosecution personnel to view both applications and orders is called the Protective Order Registry of Texas (PROTECT) and is located at https://protect.txcourts.gov. This portal launched in February 2021. For the first time, PROTECT allows Texas criminal justice personnel to view more comprehensive protective order information online, including images of applications and signed orders, to improve enforcement, investigation, and safety planning for victims of family violence and other violent crimes.
Most elected district attorneys, criminal district attorneys, county attorneys, city attorneys, and heads of law enforcement agencies have already been added to the registry as Restricted Users. “Restricted user” access enables someone to view all applications and protective orders that have been entered into the registry since its inception. For other personnel within these agencies, including victim assistance coordinators (VACs) in prosecutor offices, to also view these records, agency leaders are required to enter them into the registry as Restricted Users. Please go to https://protect.txcourts.gov for all the information on how to get started.
TOPIC website
Another facet of the registry allows the protected party in a final protective order to give consent for limited information about the respondent and the order to be viewed by the public. Once written consent is forwarded to OCA by the clerk’s office containing the record, OCA reviews to confirm that the order’s information is eligible for publication on the Texas Online Public Information—Courts (TOPICs) website, which is https://topics.txcourts.gov. If published, only the following information is viewable:
• Issuing court
• Case number
• Date issued
• Date served
• Date of expiration
• Date vacated, if any
• Respondent’s information
* Full name
* County of residence
* Birth year
* Race or ethnicity
Members of the public will not be granted access to view information regarding Temporary Ex Parte Protective Orders, Magistrates Orders of Emergency Protection, or any information about the applicant/protected party in any type of order. In addition, images of applications, orders, or other documents will not be accessible to the public through the registry. A protected party seeking to grant public access is required to a complete the form, Consent to Publish or Remove Information from Protective Order Registry Public View, which is found at www.txcourts.gov/media/1451032/form.pdf. Once completed, the form must be submitted to the clerk’s office that handles the records for the issuing court. At the time of this writing, only 33 protected parties have elected to grant public access to their protective order information.
Please send any questions to [email protected]. To inquire about training for you or your staff, please contact me at kim [email protected]. We at OCA are excited to offer this new tool to assist in enforcement and investigation of violent crimes in Texas. Thank you for all that you do!
Endnote
[1] See www.txcourts.gov/judicial-data/protective-order-registry/ for more information.