Lawmakers look into creating court for domestic violence cases

Lawmakers have given final approval to a new kind of specialized court for domestic violence cases.

House Bill 1121 lets district courts and some municipal courts establish a domestic violence program that streamlines the civil processes that come out of a domestic situation.

“There’s a lot of aspects of domestic violence,” said state Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond. “There might be a criminal part. There might be child custody, you name it.”

If Gov. Mary Fallin signs the bill, it would let cases in the same domestic situation be assigned to the same judge. The family members involved could also be able to attend fewer court dates if hearings are scheduled together.

One judge could be appointed to oversee protective orders, divorce, separation maintenance and guardianship issues. Martinez said it might help for the judge to know all factors.

“This doesn’t force anybody to do it. It just allows if there are funds available,” he said, acknowledging a more burdensome cost for some counties. “This is in its infancy, and I don’t deny that.”

During a brief discussion on the House floor on Monday, state Rep. David Perryman, D-Chickasha, asked about the criminal side of domestic cases.

“Isn’t it common to bifurcate the proceedings so that the same judge doesn’t hear a preliminary hearing?” Perryman asked.

Later, Martinez said that he thinks criminal cases would most likely be left out of the domestic violence program.

The idea, Martinez said, comes from Tulsa County. Officials there are working on a domestic violence court.

“It’s a good way to start making progress on this issue. This is probably not the last bill to be worked on doing this, but I think it’ll be good to set up some of these pilot programs and see what works and doesn’t work,” he said. “I think it’s important that we help these victims of domestic violence, where this process is not making what’s happened to them more stressful and even more traumatic.”