Bill Text: CT HB07004 | 2015 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Implementation Of The Recommendations Of The Task Force To Study Service Of Restraining Orders.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-19 - File Number 857 [HB07004 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2015-HB07004-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2015 |
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AN ACT CONCERNING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK FORCE TO STUDY SERVICE OF RESTRAINING ORDERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 6-32 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) Each state marshal shall receive each process directed to such marshal when tendered, execute it promptly and make true return thereof; and shall, without any fee, give receipts when demanded for all civil process delivered to such marshal to be served, specifying the names of the parties, the date of the writ, the time of delivery and the sum or thing in demand. If any state marshal does not duly and promptly execute and return any such process or makes a false or illegal return thereof, such marshal shall be liable to pay double the amount of all damages to the party aggrieved.
(b) Each state marshal shall have access to, and use of, the automated registry of protective orders maintained by the Judicial Department pursuant to section 51-5c, as amended by this act.
[(b)] (c) A civil protective order constitutes civil process for purposes of the powers and duties of a state marshal. The cost of serving a civil protective order shall be paid by the Judicial Branch in the same manner as the cost of serving a restraining order issued pursuant to section 46b-15, as amended by this act, and fees and expenses associated with the serving of a civil protective order shall be calculated in accordance with subsection (a) of section 52-261, as amended by this act.
Sec. 2. Subsection (j) of section 6-38b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(j) The commission may adopt such rules as it deems necessary for conduct of its internal affairs. [and] The commission shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 for: [the] (1) The application and investigation requirements for filling vacancies in the position of state marshal; (2) the provision of consistent and reliable access to a state marshal for persons applying for a restraining order under section 46b-15, as amended by this act; (3) the provision of services to persons with limited English proficiency; and (4) service of process that is a photographic copy, micrographic copy or other electronic image of an original document that clearly and accurately copies such original document.
Sec. 3. Subsection (g) of section 46b-15 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(g) The applicant shall cause notice of the hearing pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and a copy of the application [and the applicant's affidavit] and of any ex parte order issued pursuant to subsection (b) of this section to be served on the respondent not less than five days before the hearing, except that, when a court has issued an ex parte order, notice of such hearing and ex parte order may be verbally provided to the respondent by a police officer, as defined in section 54-1t, in lieu of service by a proper officer, if such verbal notice is provided to the respondent not less than five days before the hearing. The cost of such service shall be paid for by the Judicial Branch. Upon the granting of an ex parte order, the clerk of the court shall provide two copies of the order to the applicant. Upon the granting of an order after notice and hearing, the clerk of the court shall provide two copies of the order to the applicant and a copy to the respondent. Every order of the court made in accordance with this section after notice and hearing shall be accompanied by a notification that is consistent with the full faith and credit provisions set forth in 18 USC 2265(a), as amended from time to time. Immediately after making service on the respondent or, if applicable, verbally notifying the respondent of an ex parte order, the proper officer or police officer, as defined in section 54-1t, shall send or cause to be sent, by facsimile or other means, a copy of the application, or the information contained in such application, stating the date and time the respondent was served, to the law enforcement agency or agencies for the town in which the applicant resides, the town in which the applicant is employed and the town in which the respondent resides. The clerk of the court shall send, by facsimile or other means, a copy of any ex parte order and of any order after notice and hearing, or the information contained in any such order, to the law enforcement agency or agencies for the town in which the applicant resides, the town in which the applicant is employed and the town in which the respondent resides, within forty-eight hours of the issuance of such order. If the victim is enrolled in a public or private elementary or secondary school, including a technical high school, or an institution of higher education, as defined in section 10a-55, the clerk of the court shall, upon the request of the victim, send, by facsimile or other means, a copy of such ex parte order or of any order after notice and hearing, or the information contained in any such order, to such school or institution of higher education, the president of any institution of higher education at which the victim is enrolled and the special police force established pursuant to section 10a-156b, if any, at the institution of higher education at which the victim is enrolled.
Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 51-5c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(b) (1) The following information contained in the registry of protective orders shall not be subject to disclosure and may be accessed only in accordance with this section, unless otherwise ordered by the court: (A) Any information that would identify a person protected by an order contained in the registry; (B) any information that is confidential pursuant to state or federal law, including, but not limited to, any information that is confidential pursuant to a court order; and (C) any information entered in the registry pursuant to an ex parte order prior to a hearing by a court having jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter.
(2) Any judge of the Superior Court or any employee of the Judicial Department who is authorized by policies and procedures adopted by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall have access to such information. The Chief Court Administrator may grant access to such information to state marshals and personnel of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Department of Correction, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Psychiatric Security Review Board, the Division of Criminal Justice, any municipal or tribal police department within this state or any other agency, organization or person determined by the Chief Court Administrator, pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by the Chief Court Administrator, to have a legitimate interest in the information contained in the registry. Any person who obtains such information pursuant to this subdivision may use and disclose the information only in the performance of such person's duties.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the information contained in the registry shall be provided to and may be accessed through the Connecticut on-line law enforcement communications teleprocessing system maintained by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit public access to the Connecticut on-line law enforcement communications teleprocessing system.
Sec. 5. Section 52-261 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) Except as provided in [subsection (b)] subsections (b) and (c) of this section and section 52-261a, each officer or person who serves process, summons or attachments on behalf of: (1) An official of the state or any of its agencies, boards or commissions, or any municipal official acting in his or her official capacity, shall receive a fee of not more than thirty dollars for each process served and an additional fee of thirty dollars for the second and each subsequent service of such process, except that such officer or person shall receive an additional fee of ten dollars for each subsequent service of such process at the same address or for notification of the office of the Attorney General in dissolution and postjudgment proceedings if a party or child is receiving public assistance; and (2) any person, except a person described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, shall receive a fee of not more than forty dollars for each process served and an additional fee of forty dollars for the second and each subsequent service of such process, except that such officer or person shall receive an additional fee of twenty dollars for each subsequent service of such process at the same address or for notification of the office of the Attorney General in dissolution and postjudgment proceedings if a party or child is receiving public assistance. Each such officer or person shall also receive the fee set by the Department of Administrative Services for state employees for each mile of travel, to be computed from the place where such officer or person received the process to the place of service, and thence in the case of civil process to the place of return. If more than one process is served on one person at one time by any such officer or person, the total cost of travel for the service shall be the same as for the service of one process only. Each officer or person who serves process shall also receive the moneys actually paid for town clerk's fees on the service of process. Any officer or person required to summon jurors by personal service of a warrant to attend court shall receive for the first ten miles of travel while so engaged, such mileage to be computed from the place where such officer or person receives the process to the place of service, twenty-five cents for each mile, and for each additional mile, ten cents. For summoning any juror to attend court otherwise than by personal service of the warrant, such officer or person shall receive only the sum of fifty cents and actual disbursements necessarily expended by such officer or person in making service thereof as directed. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, for summoning grand jurors, such officer or person shall receive only such officer's or person's actual expenses and such reasonable sum for services as are taxed by the court. The following fees shall be allowed and paid: (A) For taking bail or bail bond, one dollar; (B) for copies of writs and complaints, exclusive of endorsements, one dollar per page, not to exceed a total amount of nine hundred dollars in any particular matter; (C) for endorsements, forty cents per page or fraction thereof; (D) for service of a warrant for the seizure of intoxicating liquors, or for posting and leaving notices after the seizure, or for the destruction or delivery of any such liquors under order of court, twenty dollars; (E) for the removal and custody of such liquors so seized, reasonable expenses, and twenty dollars; (F) for the levy of an execution, when the money is actually collected and paid over, or the debt or a portion of the debt is secured by the officer, fifteen per cent on the amount of the execution, provided the minimum fee for such execution shall be thirty dollars; (G) on the levy of an execution on real property and on application for sale of personal property attached, to each appraiser, for each half day of actual service, reasonable and customary expenses; (H) for causing an execution levied on real property to be recorded, fees for travel, twenty dollars and costs; (I) for services on an application for the sale of personal property attached, or in selling mortgaged property foreclosed under a decree of court, the same fees as for similar services on executions; (J) for committing any person to a community correctional center, in civil actions, twenty-one cents a mile for travel, from the place of the court to the community correctional center, in lieu of all other expenses; and (K) for summoning and attending a jury for reassessing damages or benefits on a highway, three dollars a day. The court shall tax as costs a reasonable amount for the care of property held by any officer under attachment or execution. The officer serving any attachment or execution may claim compensation for time and expenses of any person, in keeping, securing or removing property taken thereon, provided such officer shall make out a bill. The bill shall specify the labor done, and by whom, the time spent, the travel, the money paid, if any, and to whom and for what. The compensation for the services shall be reasonable and customary and the amount of expenses and shall be taxed by the court with the costs.
(b) Each officer or person shall receive the following fees: (1) For service of an execution on a summary process judgment, not more than fifty dollars; and (2) for removal under section 47a-42 of a defendant or other occupant bound by a summary process judgment, and the possessions and personal effects of such defendant or other occupant, not more than one hundred dollars per hour.
(c) The cost of service or attempted service of a restraining order, issued pursuant to section 46b-15, as amended by this act, and fees and expenses associated with the service or attempted service of such restraining order shall be computed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, except that mileage for in hand service of such restraining order may be for up to three round trips, computed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, as may reasonably be necessary to effectuate such service on the respondent, with any additional fees authorized only by a court order for good cause shown.
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2015) In each Superior Court where a restraining order issued under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, may be made returnable, the Chief Court Administrator shall ensure that there is sufficient office space within such court so as to permit a meeting between a state marshal and a person seeking service of the notice of hearing and any order issued under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2015) (a) The Chief Court Administrator shall revise and simplify the process for filing an application for relief from abuse under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act. The Chief Court Administrator shall ensure that any person seeking to file an application for relief from abuse is provided with a one-page, plain language explanation on how to apply for relief from abuse under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.
(b) The Chief Court Administrator shall annually collect data on the (1) number of restraining or protective orders issued under section 46b-15, as amended by this act, 46b-16a or 46b-38c of the general statutes; (2) the method of service of such orders in cases in which a respondent is successfully served with the order; and (3) the number of such orders issued that are subsequently vacated because the respondent could not be served with the order.
Sec. 8. (Effective from passage) The State Marshal Commission shall study the Judicial Branch's "marshal of the day" practice, which is used for the collection, dissemination and service of restraining and protective orders. Such study shall include, but not be limited to, an examination of the wait times for applicants as a result of such practice and whether such practice promotes efficient and timely service of restraining and protective orders. On or before February 1, 2016, the State Marshal Commission shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, on the results of such study to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2015 |
6-32 |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2015 |
6-38b(j) |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2015 |
46b-15(g) |
Sec. 4 |
October 1, 2015 |
51-5c(b) |
Sec. 5 |
October 1, 2015 |
52-261 |
Sec. 6 |
October 1, 2015 |
New section |
Sec. 7 |
October 1, 2015 |
New section |
Sec. 8 |
from passage |
New section |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 5(c), references to "calculated" were changed to "computed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section" for internal consistency and clarity; and in Section 6, "meeting between a person seeking service of the notice of hearing and any order issued under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and a state marshal" was changed to "meeting between a state marshal and a person seeking service of the notice of hearing and any order issued under section 46b-15 of the general statutes, as amended by this act" for clarity.
JUD |
Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO |