§ 7.90.180. Administrative office of the courts -- Court clerks -- Instructional and informational material
(1) The administrative office of the courts shall develop and prepare instructions and informational brochures required under RCW 7.90.020, standard petition and order for protection forms, and a court staff handbook on sexual assault, and the protection order process. The standard petition and order for protection forms must be used after September 1, 2006, for all petitions filed and orders issued under this chapter. The instructions, brochures, forms, and handbook shall be prepared in consultation with interested persons, including a representative of the state sexual assault coalition, judges, and law enforcement personnel.
(a) The instructions shall be designed to assist petitioners in completing the petition, and shall include a sample of standard petition and order for protection forms.
(b) The informational brochure shall describe the use of and the process for obtaining, modifying, and terminating a protection order as provided under this chapter.
(c) The order for protection form shall include, in a conspicuous location, notice of criminal penalties resulting from violation of the order, and the following statement: "You can be arrested even if the person or persons who obtained the order invite or allow you to violate the order's prohibitions. The respondent has the sole responsibility to avoid or refrain from violating the order's provisions. Only the court can change the order upon written application."
(d) The court staff handbook shall allow for the addition of a community resource list by the court clerk.
(2) All court clerks shall obtain a community resource list from a sexual assault program serving the county in which the court is located. The community resource list shall include the names and telephone numbers of sexual assault programs serving the community in which the court is located, including law enforcement agencies, domestic violence agencies, sexual assault agencies, legal assistance programs, interpreters, multicultural programs, and batterers' treatment programs. The court shall make the community resource list available as part of or in addition to the informational brochures described in subsection (1) of this section.
(3) The administrative office of the courts shall distribute a master copy of the petition and order forms, instructions, and informational brochures to all court clerks and shall distribute a master copy of the petition and order forms to all superior, district, and municipal courts.
(4) For purposes of this section, "court clerks" means court administrators in courts of limited jurisdiction and elected court clerks.
(5) The administrative office of the courts shall determine the significant non-English-speaking or limited English-speaking populations in the state. The administrator shall then arrange for translation of the instructions and informational brochures required by this section, which shall contain a sample of the standard petition and order for protection forms, into the languages spoken by those significant non-English-speaking populations and shall distribute a master copy of the translated instructions and informational brochures to all court clerks by December 1, 2006.
(6) The administrative office of the courts shall update the instructions, brochures, standard petition and order for protection forms, and court staff handbook when changes in the law make an update necessary.
[2006 c 138 § 19.]
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