Brooklyn Integrated Domestic Violence Court, New York: Hears misdemeanor criminal domestic violence cases as well as related family law and divorce cases in a high-volume urban setting. Located directly adjacent to the Brooklyn Family Justice Center, the court is able to work closely with the Kings County District Attorney’s specialized domestic violence bureau and connect victims with 25 on-site government agencies and community-based organizations.
The Tucson City Domestic Violence Court is a high- volume criminal misdemeanor court. The Court specifically provides services and safety for Deaf victims of domestic violence through their partnership with Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse and the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf.
The Miami-Dade County Domestic Violence Court consists of full time, dedicated Domestic Violence Division judges who have concurrent jurisdiction over civil injunctions/orders for protection, misdemeanors involving domestic violence, and injunction violation cases.
The Beltrami County Domestic Violence Court and Coordinated Community Response Project brings together a multi-disciplinary team to handle misdemeanor through felony-level criminal intimate partner domestic violence cases from arrest through final disposition.
Fourth Judicial District Family Court handles civil protection orders, marriage dissolutions, custody and parenting time cases, and paternity and child support establishment proceedings.
Kansas City, Missouri Municipal Court, Division 203, has exclusive jurisdiction over all domestic violence ordinance violations that are filed within the Kansas City limits. These cases are criminal in nature and carry a range of punishment of up to six months in jail.
Erie County, New York is home to two mentor court sites: The Erie County Integrated Domestic Violence Court and the Erie County Felony Domestic Violence Court.
The Domestic Violence Department of the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court provides individualized on-site advocacy services and legal assistance to litigants requesting civil protection orders, and runs a dedicated docket staffed by two dedicated, specially trained hearing officers who handle all domestic violence civil protection order cases authorized under Ohio statute.
Based in Rockford, Illinois, the Winnebago County Domestic Violence Coordinated Courts set a national example for responding to domestic violence. Intimate-partner criminal cases are heard in one courtroom, civil cases (including all domestic violence-related divorce cases and intimate partner orders of protection) in another. On-site victim advocacy, advanced clerical practices, open communication among the court and community agencies, and other innovative practices are key to the success of the court.
On our New Thinking podcast, Patrick Sharkey, the author of Uneasy Peace: The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence, discusses the wider costs of violence and the threat posed by inequality and disinvestment to the current fragile gains. He points to the signal role of community organizing and community-based nonprofits in combating violence and building safer, more resilient cities.
