| 1 | 1 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4351 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | ________________________________________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 12, 2024. |
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| 5 | 5 | | The committee on The Judiciary, to whom were referred the petition |
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| 6 | 6 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1551) of Kate Hogan for legislation to |
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| 7 | 7 | | protect victims of stalking in violation of harassment prevention orders, |
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| 8 | 8 | | and the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3788) of David T. |
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| 9 | 9 | | Vieira and others relative to providing notification to victims and family |
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| 10 | 10 | | members of victims when notices of temporary restraining orders or other |
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| 11 | 11 | | abuse prevention orders have been successfully served, reports |
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| 12 | 12 | | recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4351) ought to |
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| 13 | 13 | | pass. |
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| 14 | 14 | | For the committee, |
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| 15 | 15 | | MICHAEL S. DAY. 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | FILED ON: 2/5/2024 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4351 |
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| 18 | 18 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 19 | 19 | | _______________ |
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| 20 | 20 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | An Act to protect victims of stalking in violation of harassment prevention orders. |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 25 | 25 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 26 | 26 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 7 of chapter 209A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 27 | 27 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting, after the first sentence in the second paragraph, |
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| 28 | 28 | | 3the following sentence:- The appropriate law enforcement agency responsible for notice to the |
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| 29 | 29 | | 4defendant shall notify the victim when a temporary or permanent abuse prevention order: (i) has |
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| 30 | 30 | | 5been successfully served; (ii) has not been successfully served within 12 hours of receipt of the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 6order from the court, and every 24 hours thereafter until service is complete or the court orders |
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| 32 | 32 | | 7otherwise, and the effect of non-service on the order’s validity; or (iii) has expired or otherwise |
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| 33 | 33 | | 8become ineffective. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 9 SECTION 2. Section 9 of chapter 258E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby |
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| 35 | 35 | | 10amended by inserting, after the first sentence in the second paragraph, the following sentence: |
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| 36 | 36 | | 11The appropriate law enforcement agency responsible for notice to the defendant shall notify the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 12victim when a temporary or permanent harassment prevention order: (i) has been successfully |
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| 38 | 38 | | 13served; (ii) has not been successfully served within 12 hours of receipt of the order from the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 14court, and every 24 hours thereafter until service is complete or the court orders otherwise, and 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 15the effect of non-service on the order’s validity; or (iii) has expired or otherwise become |
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| 41 | 41 | | 16ineffective. |
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| 42 | 42 | | 17 SECTION 3. Section 43 of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is amended |
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| 43 | 43 | | 18by inserting, in line 21, after the word “vacate” the following words:- , harassment prevention. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 19 SECTION 4. Said section 43 of said chapter 265 is hereby further amended by inserting, |
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| 45 | 45 | | 20in line 26, after the words “two hundred and nine C” the following words:- ;or sections three, |
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| 46 | 46 | | 21five, or six of chapter two hundred and fifty-eight E;. |
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