Judiciary advances bill clarifying protection orders to cover electronic tracking, temporary vehicle possession and domestic violence programs

The Judiciary committee advanced a legislative draft commonly referred to in committee as H 222 that would explicitly expand civil protection-order statutes to cover surveillance using electronic tracking devices, add temporary possession of a vehicle as an available form of relief in both emergency and final relief-from-abuse orders, and allow courts to consider completion of domestic violence accountability programs as a condition or mitigating factor in relief orders.

The changes "make it very clear" that placing an electronic tracking device such as an AirTag in a bag or vehicle and then surveilling that device can be treated as part of a course of conduct under the civil stalking statute, the bill sponsor told the committee. The draft notes surveillance over a period of time; testimony discussed examples where a device is left and the subject is monitored for 12 hours or more.

The bill also adds temporary possession of a vehicle to the forms of relief listed in the domestic-violence relief-from-abuse statutes in…