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General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 5926
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2301
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
REP. GILCHREST, 18th Dist.
SEN. FLEXER, 29th Dist.
REP. PALM, 36th Dist.
REP. HORN, 64th Dist.
SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.
SEN. MOORE, 22nd Dist.
REP. GOUPIL, 35th Dist.
REP. FARRAR, 20th Dist.
REP. KAVROS DEGRAW, 17th Dist.
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to: (1) (A) Incorporate language 1
into section 46b-15 of the general statutes to address coercive control 2
and the prominence of nonphysical abusive behaviors from which 3
victims seek relief, and (B) in coordination with the Judicial Branch, 4
update restraining order statutory language to remove the requirements 5
of a notarized statement and instead allow applications to be made 6
under penalty of false statement, allowing for a fully online process 7
accessible to all victims; (2) incorporate consideration of risk and safety 8
concerns after a relationship has ended into the Judicial Branch's 9
existing training program and require that the branch submit a biennial 10
report to the judiciary committee regarding the family violence training 11
curriculum used and number of judges and court personnel trained over 12
the previous biennium; (3) require that a safe space be provided to 13 Proposed Bill No. 5926
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victims of family violence in all court locations; (4) require that, upon 14
request, a Family Violence Victim Advocate in criminal court be 15
provided with an arrest report, similar to the Office of Victim Service's 16
advocates; (5) specify that violations of court orders issued for family 17
violence will be considered a family crime; (6) address violations of 18
court orders issued for family violence in an effort to highlight the 19
increased risk that such violations pose in instances of family violence 20
and that this heightened risk should be considered when the court is 21
determining if cash bond should be required; (7) seek to define 22
"expeditious" processing of U-Visa applications for victims of domestic 23
violence and clarify the role of municipal and state law enforcement in 24
the application process; (8) requiring that, upon the request of a tenant, 25
a landlord change or permit the tenant to change a lock if they have a 26
restraining or protective order issued by the court and that the landlord 27
can charge the tenant the actual reasonable cost of changing the lock; (9) 28
expedite nutritional assistance, child care benefits and cash assistance 29
for victims of domestic violence; and (10) prohibit property and casualty 30
insurers from discriminating against an individual solely because the 31
individual is a victim of domestic violence and provide that such 32
discrimination constitutes a violation of the Connecticut Unfair 33
Insurance Practices Act. 34
Statement of Purpose:
To address and prevent domestic violence in Connecticut.