Clermont court unveils domestic violence protection cards

BATAVIA, Ohio – The Clermont County Domestic Relations Court now offers offer a wallet-size Civil Protection Order card that provides law enforcement agencies with a practical way to verify and enforce protection orders. “The card contains the case number and relevant information from the protection order, but it is a more convenient format for domestic violence victims to carry with them. Law enforcement can use the information provided on the card to confirm the terms of a protection order,” said Judge Kathleen M. Rodenberg. A sample of the card is below.

The card includes the name and identifying characteristics of the person ordered to stay away, the names of protected people, and dates of issuance and expiration. It is about the size of a credit card or driver’s license so it fits easily in a wallet or pocket.  The court does not charge a fee for the Civil Protection Order or the card.

Theresa Singleton, area director for the YWCA, believes the cards will be helpful for victims and law enforcement. “The new and innovative Clermont County CPO cards condense information from multiple pages of paperwork into a small card that fits easily into a wallet and provides clear information about the petitioner and the respondent. This is not only helpful to victims of domestic violence, it also provides law enforcement with critical information that will help them protect victims and hold abusers accountable.”

The Clermont County Domestic Relations Court can grant a Civil Protection Order if the purported aggressor is a spouse, a former spouse, a household member, a blood-relative who has lived with the victim at any time, or a natural parent of the victim’s child. The Domestic Relations Court is a division of the Common Pleas Court of Clermont County, Ohio, and empowered by statute to hear all divorce, dissolution, legal separation, and annulment cases as well as civil domestic violence cases. In addition, the court maintains jurisdiction over post-decree matters such as child custody, child support, parenting time issues, spousal support, and other related matters.

For more information, please contact Chris Davis at 513-732-7645, or at [email protected].