By Loretta McCarty
The City Council last week postponed a decision on helping to fund a proposed registry that would help domestic-violence victims by ensuring that protective orders are served and enforced countywide.
At their June 5 meeting, councilmembers said they needed more information before deciding on a request by County Supervisor Ron Gonzales to participate in the Domestic Violence Protective Order Registry to be established by the county on July 1 and administered by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.
Domestic-violence victims now must file separate copies of their protective orders with each law enforcement agency that might provide them protection from their abusers.
Under the registry proposal, victims would need only to file copies of their orders with the sheriff's department. Not only will it simplify the process, it will increase victims' safety, said Gonzales in a letter to the Santa Clara County/City Managers' Association.
While the council agreed that the registry was a good idea, it did not agree on how it should be funded. Mayor Paul Jacobs said that since the registry would be handled by the sheriff's department and the city already pays for sheriff's services, it should not have to pay separately for the registry.
Jacobs also felt that any payment should be dependent upon the number of incidents of domestic violence instead of the population of each city. If this was the criterion, the cost to Saratoga would be $1,000 versus the proposed $4,500 charge.
The council decided to write a letter to the Board of Supervisors seeking more information on the registry.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, June 19, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved