Relating to a hope card program for plaintiffs granted certain orders in a domestic abuse proceeding, and providing penalties

This bill relates to a hope card program for plaintiffs granted certain orders in a domestic abuse proceeding. The bill requires the attorney general, in consultation with the district clerks of court, to develop and implement a hope card program to provide for the issuance of a hope card to each person who has been granted an order in a domestic abuse proceeding that is meant to protect a plaintiff from domestic abuse prior to a hearing or requires a defendant to cease domestic abuse of a plaintiff (order). The bill allows a plaintiff who is granted an order to request a hope card from the clerk of court of the county in which the order is granted. The plaintiff may request a hope card in an application requesting an order to protect the plaintiff from domestic abuse prior to a hearing, at a hearing to prove an allegation of domestic abuse, or at any other time before the order granted to the plaintiff expires. A clerk of court must create and provide a hope card to the plaintiff within three business days of the date an order is entered or the date a plaintiff requests a hope card, whichever is earlier. The bill prohibits the clerk of court from assessing a fee for the issuance of a hope card. The bill makes a petitioner’s hope card valid until the plaintiff’s order expires, or two years from the date the order was entered for the plaintiff, whichever is earlier. A hope card may be digital, or a durable wallet-sized card. The bill details the information that must be contained on a hope card. The bill makes it a simple misdemeanor for a person to present a hope card, or other document purporting to be a hope card, as a valid hope card when the person knows or should have known the hope card or other document is not a valid hope card. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855.1 (maximum sentence for misdemeanants).