Session Laws

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. Section 1 of chapter 209A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of "Law officer" the following definition:-

"Protection order issued by another jurisdiction", any injunction or other order issued by a court of another state, territory or possession of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia, or tribal court that is issued for the purpose of preventing violent or threatening acts or harassment against, or contact or communication with or physical proximity to another person, including temporary and final orders issued by civil and criminal courts filed by or on behalf of a person seeking protection.

SECTION 2. Section 3B of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "then", in line 7, the following words:- controls, owns or.

SECTION 3. Section 5 of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "business", in line 1, the following words:- or the plaintiff is unable to appear in court because of severe hardship due to the plaintiff's physical condition.

SECTION 4. The first paragraph of said section 5 of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the third sentence the following sentence:- If the plaintiff in such a case is unable to appear in court without severe hardship due to the plaintiff's physical condition, then a representative may appear in court on the plaintiff's behalf and file the requisite complaint with an affidavit setting forth the circumstances preventing the plaintiff from appearing personally.

SECTION 5. Said chapter 209A is hereby further amended by inserting after section 5 the following section:-

Section 5A. Any protection order issued by another jurisdiction, as defined in section one, shall be given full faith and credit throughout the commonwealth and enforced as if it were issued in the commonwealth for as long as the order is in effect in the issuing jurisdiction.

A person entitled to protection under a protection order issued by another jurisdiction may file such order in the superior court department or the Boston municipal court department or any division of the probate and family or district court departments by filing with the court a certified copy of such order which shall be entered into the statewide domestic violence record keeping system established pursuant to the provisions of section seven of chapter one hundred and eighty-eight of the acts of nineteen hundred and ninety-two and maintained by the office of the commissioner of probation. Such person shall swear under oath in an affidavit, to the best of such person's knowledge, that such order is presently in effect as written. Upon request by a law enforcement agency, the register or clerk of such court shall provide a certified copy of the protection order issued by the other jurisdiction.

A law enforcement officer may presume the validity of, and enforce in accordance with section six, a copy of a protection order issued by another jurisdiction which has been provided to the law enforcement officer by any source; provided, however, that the officer is also provided with a statement by the person protected by the order that such order remains in effect. Law enforcement officers may rely on such statement by the person protected by such order.

SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 209A, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "three", in line 67, the following words:- , three B, three C.

SECTION 7. Said section 6 of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "nine C", in line 69, the following words:- or similar protection order issued by another jurisdiction.

SECTION 8. Section 7 of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "order", in lines 42 and 72, each time it appears, the following words, in each instance:- or a protection order issued by another jurisdiction.

SECTION 9. Section 8 of said chapter 209A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "inspection", in line 3, the following words:- including any copy of a protection order issued by another jurisdiction.

SECTION 10. Section 20 of chapter 233 of the General Laws, as amended by section 94 of chapter 5 of the acts of 1995, is hereby further amended by striking out the clause First and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

First, Except in a proceeding arising out of or involving a contract made by a married woman with her husband, a proceeding under chapter two hundred and nine D and in a prosecution begun under sections one to ten, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and seventy-three, any criminal proceeding in which one spouse is a defendant alleged to have committed a crime against the other spouse or to have violated a temporary or permanent vacate, restraining, or no-contact order or judgment issued pursuant to section eighteen, thirty-four B or thirty-four C of chapter two hundred and eight, section thirty-two of chapter two hundred and nine, section three, three B, three C, four, or five of chapter two hundred and nine A, or sections fifteen or twenty of chapter two hundred and nine C, or a similar protection order issued by another jurisdiction, obtained by the other spouse, and except in a proceeding involving abuse of a person under the age of eighteen, including incest, neither husband nor wife shall testify as to private conversations with the other.

SECTION 11. Section 43 of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (a) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

(a) Whoever (1) willfully and maliciously engages in a knowing pattern of conduct or series of acts over a period of time directed at a specific person which seriously alarms or annoys that person and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and (2) makes a threat with the intent to place the person in imminent fear of death or bodily injury, shall be guilty of the crime of stalking and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than two and one-half years or both.

SECTION 12. Said section 43 of said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "nine C", in line 14, the following words:- or a protection order issued by another jurisdiction.

SECTION 13. Section 28 of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "restraining", in line 21, the following words:- , suspension and surrender,.

SECTION 14. Said section 28 of said chapter 276, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "three", in line 24, the following words:- , three B, three C.

SECTION 15. Chapter 277 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 62A the following section:-

Section 62B. The crime of stalking, as set forth in section forty-three of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, may be prosecuted and punished in any territorial jurisdiction of the commonwealth wherein an act constituting an element of the crime was committed.

SECTION 16. Section 7 of chapter 188 of the acts of 1992 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "Laws", in line 10, the following words:- and protection orders issued by another jurisdiction, filed pursuant to section five A of chapter two hundred and nine A of the General Laws.