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H0437........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by: Department of Health and Welfare
DOMESTIC ASSAULT - Amends existing law to provide that domestic assault or
battery statutes cover persons related by blood or marriage and persons who
are living together or who have lived together; and to authorize batterer
evaluations prior to sentencing and post-sentencing.
01/12 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/12 Rpt prt - to Jud
H0437|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fourth Legislature Second Regular Session - 1998IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 437 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Department of Health and Welfare 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO DOMESTIC ASSAULT OR BATTERY; AMENDING SECTION 18-918, IDAHO CODE, 3 TO EXTEND APPLICATION OF THE STATUTE TO PERSONS RELATED BY BLOOD OR MAR- 4 RIAGE AND PERSONS WHO RESIDE OR HAVE RESIDED TOGETHER AND TO AUTHORIZE 5 POST-SENTENCE BATTERER EVALUATIONS. 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 7 SECTION 1. That Section 18-918, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 8 amended to read as follows: 9 18-918. DOMESTIC ASSAULT OR BATTERY. (1) For the purpose of this section, 10 "household member" means a person who is a spouse, former spouse, per- 11 sons related by blood or marriage, persons who reside or have resided 12 together, oraperson s whohas13 have a child in common regardless of whether they have been mar- 14 ried or have lived together at any time. 15 (2) A household member who commits an assault, as defined in section 16 18-901, Idaho Code, against another household member is guilty of domestic 17 assault. 18 (3) A household member who commits a battery, as defined in section 19 18-903, Idaho Code, against another household member is guilty of domestic 20 battery. 21 (4) Upon a first conviction, the crime of domestic assault or battery is 22 punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by impris- 23 onment in a county jail not to exceed six (6) months, or both. Upon a second 24 conviction, within ten (10) years of the first conviction, the person so con- 25 victed shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to 26 exceed one (1) year or by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) 27 or by both fine and imprisonment. Upon a third or subsequent conviction, 28 within fifteen (15) years of the first conviction, the person so convicted 29 shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not to exceed 30 five (5) years or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by 31 both fine and imprisonment. 32 (5) (a) Any person who pleads guilty or is found guilty of a violation of 33 this section shall undergo, at the person's own expense , 34andeither prior to or after the 35 sentencing date, an evaluation by a person, agency or organization 36 approved by the court in accordance with subsection (c) of this section to 37 determine whether the defendant should be required to obtain aggression 38 counseling and/ or other appropriate treatmentfor anger39control and prevention. If the evaluation recommends counseling or 40 other treatment, the evaluation shall recommend the type of counseling or 41 treatment considered appropriate for the defendant, together with the 42 estimated costs thereof, and shall recommend any other suitable alterna- 43 tive counseling or treatment programs, together with the estimated costs 2 1 thereof. The defendant shall request that a copy of the completed evalua- 2 tion be forwarded to the court. The court shall take the evaluation into 3 consideration in determining an appropriate sentence. If a copy of the 4 completed evaluation has not been provided to the court, the court may 5 proceed to sentence the defendant; however, in such event, it shall be 6 presumed that counseling is required unless the defendant makes a showing 7 by a preponderance of evidence that counseling is not required. If the 8 defendant has not made a good faith effort to provide the completed copy 9 of the evaluation to the court, the court may consider the failure of the 10 defendant to provide the report as an aggravating circumstance in deter- 11 mining an appropriate sentence. If counseling or other treatment is 12 ordered, in no event shall the person, agency or organization doing the 13 evaluation be the person, agency or organization that provides the coun- 14 seling or other treatment unless this requirement is waived by the sen- 15 tencing court, with the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes or 16 federal military installations, where diagnosis and treatment are appro- 17 priate and available. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the use of 18 funds authorized for court-ordered counseling or treatment pursuant to 19 this section for indigent defendants as provided by law. In the event that 20 funding is provided for or on behalf of the defendant by a governmental 21 entity, the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to such govern- 22 mental entity in accordance with the restitution procedure for crime vic- 23 tims, as specified under chapter 53, title 19, Idaho Code. 24 (b) If the evaluation recommends counseling or other treatment, the court 25 shall order the person to complete the counseling or other treatment in 26 addition to any other sentence which may be imposed. If the court deter- 27 mines that counseling or treatment would be inappropriate or undesirable, 28 the court shall enter findings articulating the reasons for such determi- 29 nation on the record. The court shall order the defendant to complete the 30 preferred counseling or treatment program set forth in the evaluation, or 31 a comparable alternative, unless it appears that the defendant cannot rea- 32 sonably obtain adequate financial resources for such counseling or treat- 33 ment. In that event, the court may order the defendant to complete a less 34 costly alternative set forth in the evaluation or a comparable program. 35 Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a 36 court to order that counseling or treatment be provided at government 37 expense unless otherwise required by law. 38 (c) Each judicial district shall by rule establish a uniform system for 39 the qualification and approval of persons, agencies or organizations to 40 perform the evaluations required in this subsection. Only qualified 41 evaluators approved by the court shall be authorized to perform such eval- 42 uations. Funds to establish a system for approval of evaluators shall be 43 derived from moneys designated therefor and deposited in the district 44 court fund as provided in section 31-3201A(p), Idaho Code.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS07298
There are two purposes of this legislation. The first is to change the definition of
"household member" as defined by Idaho's Domestic Assault or Battery Statute (Idaho
Code 18-918) to include persons who live or have lived together, persons related by blood
or marriage, and persons who have a child in common. The current definition of
"household member" in Idaho Code 18-918 includes only current and former spouses,
while Idaho's Domestic Violence Crime Prevention Act (Idaho Code 39-6301 to 39-6317)
already includes this expanded definition. By making the language in these two statutes
read the same, this legislation will make it easier for law enforcement officers to enforce
both statutes in a consistent manner. In addition, this expanded language will once again
bring members of former common law marriages within the purview of this statute. This is
a large group that was meant to be covered by 18-918 at the time it was made into law.
The second purpose is to allow domestic batterer assessments to be done either prior to
or after sentencing on domestic assault or battery charges. Currently, Idaho Code, 18918
requires that domestic batterer assessments be completed prior to the date of sentencing.
By allowing judges the option of sentencing defendants prior to their assessment, the
courts will have the additional tool of a probation violation to enforce no contact orders.
This will afford better protection to victims of domestic violence.
FISCAL IMPACT
The legislation is expected to result in no additional cost to the state.
CONTACT
Name: Celia Heady
Agency: Council on Domestic Violence
Phone: 334-5580
Statement of Purpose/Fiscal Impact
H 437