|
Louisiana Protective
Order Registry (LPOR) |
Louisiana Protective Order Registry Receives FBI Award
The
Louisiana Protective Order Registry (LPOR),
a statewide repository of court orders issued to prohibit
domestic abuse and dating violence, and to aid law enforcement,
prosecutors and the courts in handling such matters, was established
by legislative act (La. R.S. 46:2136.2) in 1997. The Judicial
Administrator’s Office of the Louisiana Supreme Court
is responsible for developing and disseminating standardized
forms, called “Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order”
forms, and for collecting and entering the data from all courts
into the registry.
After a pilot phase, which began in late 1997 and continued
through 1998, the registry was officially launched in April,
1999. Courts were expected to begin using the standardized
forms and transmitting their orders of protection, both civil
and criminal, to the registry no later than January 1, 2000.
From the pilot phase of the project through December 31, 2004,
the registry received and entered a total of 109,150 orders.
Of these, 78,382 (72%) were civil orders and 30,768 (28%)
were criminal orders of protection.
Records contained in the registry are made available to state
and local law enforcement agencies, district attorney offices,
the Department of Social Services, office of family support,
support enforcement services, office of community services,
the Department of Health and Hospitals, bureau of protective
services, the Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs,
elderly protective services, the office of the attorney general,
and the courts.
As of December 31, 2004, the average number of daily searches
of the registry by authorized users was 9,397 searches per
day. In 11.5% of these searches, the result indicated a possible
match.
Registry staff respond on a 24/7 basis to requests for order
verification submitted by examiners with the FBI’s National
Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is
designed to prevent the sale of firearms and ammunition to
those who are the subject of a qualifying order of protection.
Staff respond on a 24/7 basis to requests for order verification
submitted by local, state, and out-of-state law enforcement
officials conducting investigations involving the subject
of a Louisiana order of protection.
In addition, staff respond during business hours to calls
for general information about orders of protection, how to
obtain them, technical assistance in the use of the standardized
order forms and the forms-related software, and requests for
referrals from victims of domestic violence who are searching
for assistance that is provided in their respective community.
The Louisiana
Protective Order Registry is a project of the Office
of the Judicial Administrator, Supreme Court of Louisiana
|