INDIANAPOLIS — As an advocate who works with survivors of domestic violence, Caryn Burton has become used to hearing the same thing from many of them.
“'I don’t even know why I even bothered to call police. He was right back on my doorstep before I had the chance to clean everything up,'” Burton, who is with the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said survivors tell her.
That’s why she came to the Statehouse Tuesday to tell Senators on the Corrections and Criminal Law Committee why she supports SB 158.
The proposed law would increase the holding period for someone arrested for domestic violence from eight hours to 24 hours.
Supporters say that would give an alleged victim time to make a plan.
“They need more time both to emotionally process and start to think thru what do my next steps need to be, but then also to start taking those next steps,” Burton explained.
Burton said it also gives police and the courts more time to look at the case and measure the potential threat.
“Allow them to look at the history of the relationship and, maybe the history of this individual, and say, ‘Is this a person who poses an additional threat, an elevated risk to safety?'” Burton said.
According to the most recent numbers compiled by the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, 72 people died in domestic violence incidents in Indiana.
According to their numbers, the greatest number of those incidents happened in Marion County.
“We don’t want to protect violent people. We don’t want to allow people to commit violence. We just want to make sure that we’re not casting the net so wide that we catch innocent people in that net,” said Zach Stock with the Indiana Public Defender Council.
Stock and advocates for the attorneys who defend people accused of domestic violence think eight hours is already a long enough time for someone to be held before they go before a judge to see about bail.
“We, again, just don’t want people who don’t deserve to have their lives derailed for 24 hours to have their lives derailed for 24 hours because it can be traumatic,” Stock said.
The bill also tries to keep guns out of the hands of more people who could be considered serious violent felons.
It adds attempted murder, strangulation and human trafficking to the list of crimes that are considered a serious violent felony that would prevent someone from owning a gun.
According to those same numbers from the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the greatest number of deaths from domestic violence happened at the hands of someone using a gun.
Senate Bill 158 passed out of committee Tuesday. That means it goes back to the full Senate where, this time around, other lawmakers can add amendments to the bill.