Family-court subcommittee weighs sharing domestic-violence records, expanding mediation and pro se help

The Subcommittee on Family Court of the House Committee on Children and Family Law met Oct. 27 to discuss how domestic-violence cases intersect with custody and other family-court matters and to consider procedural and legislative steps to reduce dangerous gaps between courts.

Chairman (name not specified) opened the discussion by describing the core problem: "This is very important because ... sometimes there's a domestic violence charge in superior court while custody issues are being discussed in family court and neither court knows the other court," and asked members to review a paper on the topic prepared by Representatives Grama and Rice.

Honorable Counsel summarized relevant law and practical barriers to information-sharing. "RSA 490-D does give family courts an original jurisdiction in 173‑B matters," counsel said, and added that many 173‑B actions at the district-court level are confidential, which can prevent third parties and some court users from discovering companion proceedings. Counsel also noted that criminal case summaries are publicly available through court systems and…