HF 134 (LSB 1310YH (4) 85)

HOUSE FILE 134

BY  WOLFE

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the court’s authority to grant a protective order following an adjudication of domestic abuse.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 236.5, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   Upon a finding that the defendant has engaged in domestic abuse
 
and that the defendant represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the plaintiff:
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to the court’s authority to grant a protective order following an adjudication of domestic abuse.
   Current law allows the court to enter a civil protective order, upon hearing, upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant has engaged in domestic abuse. Iowa Court Rule, Chapter 4 (form 2) provides that when the court finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant was properly served, committed domestic abuse against the protected party, and represents a credible threat to the protected party, the court issues a protective order.
   The bill requires the court to find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the plaintiff in order to grant a protective order.