HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4643        FILED ON: 3/21/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Alan Silvia

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to abuse and harassment prevention orders.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4643        FILED ON: 3/21/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to abuse and harassment prevention orders.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1. The eighth paragraph of section 7 of chapter 209A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:-

Where a defendant has been found in violation of an abuse prevention order under this chapter or a protection order issued by another jurisdiction the court shall, in addition to the penalties provided for in this section after conviction and, as a condition of probation, prohibit contact with the victim through the establishment of court defined geographic exclusion zones including, but not limited to, the areas in and around the complainant's residence, place of employment, and the complainant's child's school, and order that the defendant to wear a global positioning satellite tracking device designed to transmit and record the defendant's location data. The defendant shall not be required to wear the device during any period of time that the defendant is incarcerated.

Section 2. Chapter 258E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 9 the following section:-

Section 9A. Where a defendant has been found in violation of a harassment prevention order under this chapter or a protection order issued by another jurisdiction, the court may, in addition to the penalties provided for in this section after conviction, as an alternative to incarceration and, as a condition of probation, prohibit contact with the victim through the establishment of court defined geographic exclusion zones including, but not limited to, the areas in and around the complainant's residence, place of employment, and the complainant's child's school, and order that the defendant to wear a global positioning satellite tracking device designed to transmit and record the defendant's location data. If the defendant enters a court defined exclusion zone, the defendant's location data shall be immediately transmitted to the complainant, and to the police, through an appropriate means including, but not limited to, the telephone, an electronic beeper or a paging device. The global positioning satellite device and its tracking shall be administered by the department of probation. If a court finds that the defendant has entered a geographic exclusion zone, it shall revoke the defendant's probation and the defendant shall be fined, imprisoned or both as provided in this section. Based on the defendant's ability to pay, the court may also order the defendant to pay the monthly costs of portion thereof for monitoring through the global positioning satellite tracking system.