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S1525................................................by JUDICIARY AND RULES
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - Amends existing law to clarify that a household member
who commits a battery and willfully and unlawfully inflicts a traumatic
injury upon another household member is guilty of a felony; and to require
that counseling and treatment of offenders be conducted according to
standards established or approved by the Council on Domestic Violence.
02/24 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/25 Rpt prt - to Jud
03/06 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/07 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/10 3rd rdg - PASSED - 33-0-2
AYES--Andreason, Boatright, Bunderson, Cameron, Danielson,
Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Hawkins, Ingram,
Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee, McLaughlin, Noh, Parry,
Richardson, Riggs, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner,
Stennett, Thorne, Walton/Branch, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams
NAYS--None
Absent and excused--Burtenshaw, Crow
Floor Sponsor - Dunklin
Title apvd - to House
03/13 House intro - 1st rdg - to Jud
03/24 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/27 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
04/03 3rd rdg - PASSED - 61-1-8
AYES -- Alltus, Barraclough(Barraclough), Barrett, Bell, Bieter,
Black, Boe, Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Chase, Cuddy, Denney,
Ellsworth, Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond,
Hansen(23), Hansen(29), Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Jones, Judd,
Kellogg, Kempton, Kendell, Kunz, Lake, Linford,
Loertscher(Loertscher), Mader, Marley, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery,
Mortensen, Moss, Moyle, Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Reynolds, Ringo,
Robison, Sali, Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith, Smylie, Stoicheff,
Stone, Taylor, Tilman, Trail, Wood, Zimmermann
NAYS -- Cheirrett
Absent and excused -- Clark, Crow, Deal, Geddes, Ridinger, Stevenson,
Wheeler, Mr Speaker
Floor Sponsor - Jaquet
Title apvd - to Senate
04/04 To enrol - rpt enrol - Pres signed
04/05 Sp signed
04/06 To Governor
04/14 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 358
Effective: 04/14/00
S1525
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1525
BY JUDICIARY AND RULES COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; AMENDING SECTION 18-918, IDAHO CODE, TO CLARIFY
3 THAT A HOUSEHOLD MEMBER WHO COMMITS A BATTERY AND WILLFULLY AND UNLAWFULLY
4 INFLICTS A TRAUMATIC INJURY UPON ANOTHER HOUSEHOLD MEMBER IS GUILTY OF A
5 FELONY AND TO REQUIRE THAT COUNSELING AND TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS BE CON-
6 DUCTED ACCORDING TO STANDARDS ESTABLISHED OR APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL ON
7 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
9 SECTION 1. That Section 18-918, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
10 amended to read as follows:
11 18-918. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. (1) For the purpose of this section,
12 "household member" means a person who is a spouse, former spouse, or a person
13 who has a child in common regardless of whether they have been married or a
14 person with whom a person is cohabiting, whether or not they have married or
15 have held themselves out to be husband or wife.
16 (2) As used in this section, "traumatic injury" means a condition of the
17 body, such as a wound or external or internal injury, whether of a minor or
18 serious nature, caused by physical force.
19 (3) Any household member who commits a battery, as defined in section
20 18-903, Idaho Code, and willfully and unlawfully inflicts a traumatic injury
21 upon any other household member is guilty of a felony.
22 (4) A household member who commits an assault, as defined in section
23 18-901, Idaho Code, against another household member which does not result in
24 traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic assault.
25 (5) A household member who commits a battery, as defined in section
26 18-903, Idaho Code, against another household member which does not result in
27 traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor domestic battery.
28 (6) A conviction of felony domestic battery is punishable by imprisonment
29 in the state prison for a term not to exceed ten (10) years or by a fine not
30 to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by both fine and imprisonment.
31 (7) (a) Upon a first conviction, the crime of misdemeanor domestic
32 assault or battery is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dol-
33 lars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six (6)
34 months, or both. Upon a second conviction, within ten (10) years of the
35 first conviction, the person so convicted shall be punished by imprison-
36 ment in the county jail for a term not to exceed one (1) year or by a fine
37 not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) or by both fine and imprison-
38 ment. Upon a third or subsequent conviction, within fifteen (15) years of
39 the first conviction, the person so convicted shall be punished by impris-
40 onment in the state prison for a term not to exceed five (5) years or by a
41 fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by both fine and
42 imprisonment.
43 (b) The maximum penalties provided in this section shall be doubled where
2
1 the act of domestic assault or battery for which the person is convicted
2 or pleads guilty took place in the presence of a child. For purposes of
3 this section, "in the presence of a child" means in the physical presence
4 of a child or knowing that a child is present and may see or hear an act
5 of domestic assault or battery. For purposes of this section, "child"
6 means a person under sixteen (16) years of age.
7 (8) (a) Any person who pleads guilty or is found guilty of a violation of
8 this section shall undergo, at the person's own expense, an evaluation by
9 a person, agency or organization approved by the court in accordance with
10 subsection (c) of this section to determine whether the defendant should
11 be required to obtain aggression counseling or other appropriate treat-
12 ment. Such evaluation shall be completed prior to the sentencing date if
13 the court's list of approved evaluators, in accordance with subsection (c)
14 of this section, contains evaluators who are able to perform the evalua-
15 tion prior to the sentencing dates. If the evaluation recommends counsel-
16 ing or other treatment, the evaluation shall recommend the type of coun-
17 seling or treatment considered appropriate for the defendant, together
18 with the estimated costs thereof, and shall recommend any other suitable
19 alternative counseling or treatment programs, together with the estimated
20 costs thereof. The defendant shall request that a copy of the completed
21 evaluation be forwarded to the court. The court shall take the evaluation
22 into consideration in determining an appropriate sentence. If a copy of
23 the completed evaluation has not been provided to the court, the court may
24 proceed to sentence the defendant; however, in such event, it shall be
25 presumed that counseling is required unless the defendant makes a showing
26 by a preponderance of evidence that counseling is not required. If the
27 defendant has not made a good faith effort to provide the completed copy
28 of the evaluation to the court, the court may consider the failure of the
29 defendant to provide the report as an aggravating circumstance in deter-
30 mining an appropriate sentence. If counseling or other treatment is
31 ordered, in no event shall the person, agency or organization doing the
32 evaluation be the person, agency or organization that provides the coun-
33 seling or other treatment unless this requirement is waived by the sen-
34 tencing court, with the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes or
35 federal military installations, where diagnosis and treatment are appro-
36 priate and available. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the use of
37 funds authorized for court-ordered counseling or treatment pursuant to
38 this section for indigent defendants as provided by law. In the event that
39 funding is provided for or on behalf of the defendant by a governmental
40 entity, the defendant shall be ordered to make restitution to such govern-
41 mental entity in accordance with the restitution procedure for crime vic-
42 tims, as specified under chapter 53, title 19, Idaho Code.
43 (b) If the evaluation recommends counseling or other treatment, the court
44 shall order the person to complete the counseling or other treatment in
45 addition to any other sentence which may be imposed. If the court deter-
46 mines that counseling or treatment would be inappropriate or undesirable,
47 the court shall enter findings articulating the reasons for such determi-
48 nation on the record. The court shall order the defendant to complete the
49 preferred counseling or treatment program set forth in the evaluation, or
50 a comparable alternative, unless it appears that the defendant cannot rea-
51 sonably obtain adequate financial resources for such counseling or treat-
52 ment. In that event, the court may order the defendant to complete a less
53 costly alternative set forth in the evaluation or a comparable program.
54 Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as requiring a
55 court to order that counseling or treatment be provided at government
3
1 expense unless otherwise required by law.
2 (c) Each judicial district shall by rule establish a uniform system for
3 the qualification and approval of persons, agencies or organizations to
4 perform the evaluations required in this subsection. Only qualified
5 evaluators approved by the court shall be authorized to perform such eval-
6 uations. Funds to establish a system for approval of evaluators shall be
7 derived from moneys designated therefor and deposited in the district
8 court fund as provided in section 31-3201A(p), Idaho Code.
9 (d) Counseling or treatment ordered pursuant to this section shall be
10 conducted according to standards established or approved by the Idaho
11 council on domestic violence.
12 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby
13 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its
14 passage and approval.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS09571
One part of this bill addresses a phrase in legislation passed in 1998 that has been
found unconstitutional by an Idaho judge. A household member who willfully
inflicts a traumatic injury was not specific enough, and this bill will add specific
language to clarify that an unlawful battery must have occurred. The other part
of this bill is to clarify that programs that treat batterers must meet the domestic
violence batterer treatment standards created by the Council on Domestic
violence.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact will be a savings to the state with fewer arrests being made.
Fewer will be charged with 18-918 as the definition of a traumatic injury will
narrow who this domestic assault and battery applies to. Using the domestic
violence batterer standards will have no fiscal impact on the state.
CONTACT
Celia Heady
Idaho Council on Domestic Violence
334-5580
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL IMPACT S 1525