Data Sources:

• Franklin County Municipal Court, Annual Report (annual DV/VPO charges)
• Columbus City Attorney’s Office, Domestic Violence/Stalking Unit (victim race and gender characteristics)

Definitions:

• Domestic violence (DV): Section 2919.25 of the Ohio Revised Code defines domestic violence as (a) knowingly causing or attempting to cause physical harm to a family or household member; or (b) recklessly causing serious physical harm to a family or household member; or (c) by threat of force, knowingly causing a family or household member to believe that the offender will cause imminent physical harm to the family or household member.
• Protection Order (PO): A court order issued in response to a Motion for Temporary Protection Order that requires a domestic violence offender to stop abusing and to stay away from the victim(s) named in the Motion

Explanations and Caveats:

• In 1994 the state of Ohio adopted a “preferred arrest” policy with the passage of H.B. 335 (ORC 2935.03). The policy mandates that where a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the offense of domestic violence has been committed, it is the preferred course of action in Ohio to arrest the offender. This law resulted in a significant increase in domestic violence charges in Franklin County beginning in 1995.
• According to the Columbus City Attorney’s office, all DV charges are processed as misdemeanors in order to process the person charged more easily. The DV squad sends all charged to the Grand Jury. Roughly 20% of the cases become felonies.
• The data on domestic violence charges and violation of protection orders do not represent unduplicated counts of offenders. An individual may have multiple charges filed against them during one year.
• Data on race and gender are from only those cases filed in the Franklin County Municipal Court.

Update Status:
September 2011