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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | December 28, 2018 11:52 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Vincent J. Hughes and Sen. Jay Costa |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Allowing Electronic Monitoring of Defendants as an Option of Relief in Protection From Abuse (PFA) Orders |
| In the near future, we plan to reintroduce Senate Bill 196, which amends Title 23 to allow a judge to order an electronic monitoring device on a defendant in a protection from abuse (PFA) order. Domestic violence continues to plague our communities. According to the Domestic Violence Coalition, in Fiscal Year 2016-17 the Commonwealth’s 60 community centers that provide domestic violence services assisted more than 89,000 victims. In 2017, according to the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, more than 39,000 new PFA cases were filed that year. This bill amends Title 23 to allow a judge to order a defendant to wear an electronic monitoring device if a defendant is found, by a judge, to present a substantial risk of violating a protection from abuse order. This would not be a mandatory requirement; it would be another option for relief a judge can order. Last session, this legislation, with bipartisan support, passed the Senate unanimously. Previous co-sponsors of this bill include: Bartolotta, Brewster, Brooks, Boscola, Browne, Farnese, Fontana, Gordner, Haywood, Mensch, Reschenthaler, Ward, White and Yudichak. We hope that you will join us in sponsoring this legislation. If you have any questions, please contact Michael Deery in Senator Hughes’ office at 717-787-7112 or at Michael.Deery@pasenate.com or Stephen Bruder in Senator Costa’s office at 717-787-7683 or at Stephen.Bruder@pasenate.com. |
Introduced as SB196