Washington courts preview HOPE Card wallet card to make protection orders more portable

A new statewide HOPE Card program to make civil protection orders more portable and survivor-centered is slated to launch Jan. 1, AOC presenters told the Washington State Supreme Court’s Minority and Justice Commission.

Lauren Dodson of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) said the centralized program will issue free, wallet-size cards that represent an underlying civil protection order and can be requested anytime while the order is active. “Hope cards are going to be free,” Dodson said. She added that cards are optional and survivors will need to opt in and tell the AOC where to mail them.

The first iteration will support five main types of civil protection orders after they have passed any temporary status and do not include criminal no-contact orders, which the team is researching for a future phase. Dodson emphasized that the card is not a substitute for the full protection-order packet: “It still have to have a full civil protection order on file in a Washington court,” she said.

The AOC plans a centralized, consistent issuance process so courts do not produce 39 different local variations; for security and quality control the agency will pull case data from the enterprise data repository and print only high-level, verifiable information on the card. Presenters said some features initially contemplated by the legislation — a scannable card that would retrieve images of the order, a direct firearms restriction indicator, and free-text distinguishing features — will not be included in the launch because those data elements are inconsistent across local case-management systems. “We have access to some of that information around firearms restrictions, but it isn’t consistent,” Dodson said, adding that law enforcement partners told the team they would treat the card as an indicator and always verify the underlying order using established procedures.

Presenters described operational details for survivors and advocates: requests will be submitted through a public-facing website (a mail-in option will remain), the AOC will issue and mail cards centrally, and the office expects to fulfill requests in a 14-business-day turnaround window while often completing mailings sooner. “We’ve adopted a 14 business day turnaround,” Dodson said, acknowledging that some courts’ data take extra days to reach the central repository.

Commissioners pressed the team on access and safety concerns. Multiple members said printing cards in English only was unacceptable for a multilingual state; Dodson said the team will print the card itself in English to mirror driver-license practice but plans to include multilingual explainer letters and translate program materials into as many as 20 languages. “We hope to have at a minimum, English on one side, Spanish on the back,” she said, and added the program will develop translated explanatory materials to accompany the card mailing.

Members also raised fraud concerns and asked how officials would respond if a card remained in public circulation after an order is dismissed or changed. Dodson responded that the safeguard is verification by law enforcement: when a card is presented, officers will still check the underlying case record. “The safeguard is law enforcement verifying the order,” she said. The presenters acknowledged they cannot compel survivors to destroy outdated cards and will instead instruct cardholders to destroy and request a new card if an order is dismissed or materially modified.

The team asked commission members to help raise awareness about the opt-in program, offering webinars and outreach materials for courts and service providers. AOC staff provided an information email for questions at hopecard@courts.wah.gov and said they will host additional virtual sessions to field implementation questions.

The commission did not take formal action at the meeting; presenters asked for continued collaboration with law enforcement and advocacy groups while the AOC develops subsequent program capabilities.