ODESSA, Texas — State Representative Brooks Landgraf's bill has passed out of the house with a vote of 145-1.
The bill will bolster Monica's law, which was named after an Odessa mother who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.
“Last session, we passed Monica’s Law to create the Texas Protective Order Registry to include protective orders issued as a result of domestic violence,” Landgraf said. “The registry has been a huge success, so we want to improve the tool further with HB 2702 by including protective orders for victims of sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, and human trafficking in the database as well.”
Before the Texas Protective Order Registry came into play, protective orders issued in one county were nonexistent and not accessible to law enforcements in another county.
“Monica’s Law closed the information gap that existed between the courts, law enforcement and the public as it relates to protective orders arising from incidents of domestic violence so that repeat offenders of domestic abuse can no longer hide their crimes by moving from county to county,” Landgraf continued. “Now HB 2702 ensures the same thing applies to other horrible acts like assault and human trafficking. This is all about catching the bad guys and protecting and empowering the public.”
