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We added four statutes related to Rhode Island Sexual Assault Protective Orders to our Selected Rhode Island Statutes page.

In our Virginia State Gun Laws section, we made the following changes in English and Spanish to I do not have a protective order against the abuser and s/he has not been convicted of a crime. Can s/he own a gun?: 

• removed “habitual drunkenness” as a ground for disqualification to carry a concealed firearm;
• added the following less typical types of protective orders as grounds for not being able to possess a firearm or get a concealed carry permit:
  • substantial risk order;
  • a protective order issued as part of a divorce; and
  • a protective order issued due to abuse/neglect of a child.

We also added the newly-created substantial risk order to the list of orders that disqualify someone from possessing a firearm in I have a protective order against the abuser. Can s/he keep a gun or buy a new gun? and I am a victim of domestic violence and the abuser has a gun. Is that legal? Additions made in English and Spanish.

Based on a 2020 addition to Virginia law, we added information to What happens if the abuser violates the order? about in which counties a violation can be prosecuted. Changes made in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our Indiana Crimes page.

On our Vermont Places that Help page, we updated 44 resources as follows: 3 Statewide Programs, 15 Local Programs, 9 Legal Assistance, 3 Lawyer Referral Service, and 14 Courthouse Locations. All updates were made in English and, for the first time, all resources were translated into Spanish!

We added ten statutes on high-risk protection orders to our Selected Nevada Statutes page.

Based on a 2020 change to the law, we updated our Nebraska Suing an Abuser page to reflect that $3,900 is the new limit in small claims court. Previously the limit was $3,600. 

In our Georgia Custody section, we updated the links in English and Spanish to additional information in Where can I find more information about custody in Georgia? 

In Minnesota, we added one statute defining domestic violence advocate and sexual assault advocate to the Selected Minnesota Statutes page.

Based on a 2020 addition to Arizona law, we added information to What protections can I get in an order of protection? about the victim’s duty to notify the court if s/he moves out of the home after the abuser is excluded. Changes made in English and Spanish.

Based on a 2020 addition to the law, we updated How are firearms removed from a dangerous individual under this law? For how long are they removed? in our Indiana Firearms Seizure and Retention Law section.

We added the question When can a judge order that a parent be drug tested? to our Indiana Custody page.

On our U.S. Virgin Islands Places that Help page, we added 3 new resources as follows: 1 Legal Assistance and 2 Courthouse Locations. All additions were made in English and, for the first time, all resources were translated into Spanish!

We translated into Spanish our Indiana Custody section. 

We updated our Arizona Download Court Forms page in English and Spanish to link to the court website’s tool that helps petitioners fill out the order of protection form by answering a series of questions. 

We translated into Spanish our new Protection from Housing Discrimination page in our California Housing page.

We translated into Spanish our Motion for Reconsideration page in our Preparing for Court section. 

We translated into Spanish our newly added question entitled Can the judge order that I provide health care coverage? in our Massachusetts Child Support section.

We updated the links in our Puerto Rico Download Court Forms page in English and Spanish.

Based on changes in the law, we updated the Can a parent who committed violence get custody or visitation? question in our Tennessee Custody section, in English.

On our Alabama Places that Help page, we added 18 new resources as follows: 1 Statewide Program, 12 Local Programs, and 5 Courthouse Locations. All additions were made in English and, for the first time, all resources were translated into Spanish!

We translated into Spanish the recently updated the information on our general Restraining Orders page.

We translated into Spanish our new question called What are the legal definitions of domestic, sexual, and gender violence? to our Illinois Workplace Protections page.

We translated into Spanish five additional protections that can be included in a final order to our What protections can I get in an injunction for protection against stalking? question in our Florida Injunctions for Protection Against Stalking/Cyberstalking section.

We translated into Spanish our question about police officers removing firearms at the scene of a family offense in our New York State Gun Laws section.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a statute on automatic restraining orders in divorce cases to our Selected Tennessee Statutes page.

We translated into Spanish our Colorado Extreme Risk Protection Orders page.

We translated into Spanish our newly created a Nevada Workplace Protections section.

We updated the link to sheriffs on our Alaska Sheriff Departments page and we translated the page into Spanish.

On our Wisconsin Places that Help page, we updated 123 resources as follows: 2 Statewide Programs, 54 Local Programs, 15 Legal Assistance, 1 Lawyer Referral Service, and 73 Courthouse Locations. We also updated the link to sheriffs on our Wisconsin Sheriff Departments page. All updates were made in English and, for the first time, all resources were translated into Spanish!

We added the crime of interception of communications to our Ohio Crimes page in English and Spanish.

We added a question called Can my pet be included in a military protective order (MPO)? in our section about Domestic Violence in the Military. The new question is in English, but Spanish is coming soon!

We re-organized and revised our West Virginia State Gun Laws section to make it easier to read. In addition to adding a new sub-section called The Abuser is Not Supposed to Have a Gun…Now What?, we also removed the majority of the federal gun laws information so that the section focuses on West Virginia state laws. 

We created three new questions on our Indiana Custody page in English: 

• Are parents required to tell each other their address and phone number? 
• What happens to a parent’s visitation rights when s/he is deployed?
• What steps do I have to take if I want to relocate?

Spanish coming soon!

We added two divorce-related statutes to our Selected Nevada Statutes page.

We added the crimes of first degree sexual assault, second degree sexual assault, and third degree sexual assault to our Rhode Island Crimes page.

We added a Title IX National Organizations page and six new organizations in English. Spanish translation coming soon.

We added eight questions to a Rhode Island Extreme Risk Protective Orders page.

Based on changes to the law in that took effect 8/1/20, we added information to Who is eligible for a harassment restraining order? and​ Can a minor get a harassment restraining order? regarding the fact that a victim’s guardian or conservator can file for an HRO on the victim’s behalf, including for minor victims.

We added five crimes (criminal sexual conduct in the first through fifth degrees) to our Minnesota Crimes page. In addition, in our Minnesota Housing Laws page, we hyperlinked to the definitions of those crimes to better explain which crime victims could qualify to terminate their lease early.

We added the crime of computer trespass in English and Spanish to our New York Crimes page.

We added a statute related to financial exploitation of an elderly person, protected person, or incapacitated adult to our Selected West Virginia Statutes page.  

We updated the information on our general Restraining Orders page to further explain violations and the difference between civil and criminal contempt. Changes in English, Spanish coming soon!

We added two statutes to our Selected Wisconsin Statutes page related to intimidation of victims and of witnesses.

In our Kentucky Divorce section, we added a link to information about legal separation in the question Where can I find additional information about divorce laws in Kentucky?

Based on legislative changes that take effect in July 2020, we added information to If my child was conceived from sexual assault, can the offender get custody or visitation? to include the fact that a mother who is under age 18 cannot waive child support or ask for visitation on her own.

We added five statutes related to sexual crimes to our Selected Illinois Statutes page.

We added a new section to our California Housing page called Protection from Housing Discrimination. It includes 6 new questions about the law that protects victims of abuse from discrimination by a landlord. Spanish translation coming soon!

On our Alaska Places that Help page, we updated 79 resources as follows: 7 Statewide Programs, 25 Local Programs, 11 Legal Assistance, 1 Lawyer Referral Service, and 35 Courthouse Locations. All updates were made in English and, for the first time, all resources were translated into Spanish!
 

We added five new crimes related to sexual violence to the Illinois Crimes page in English and Spanish.

We added 42 new programs to our West Virginia Advocates and Shelters page.

In our Florida Injunctions for Protection Against Stalking/Cyberstalking section, we added five additional protections that can be included in a final order to What protections can I get in an injunction for protection against stalking? Changes made in English; Spanish soon to come.

We added a new question in English to our California Restraining Orders to Prevent Elder or Dependent Adult Abuse section called What is the definition of “elderly” and “dependent adult” for the purposes of getting this restraining order?  Spanish soon to come.

We added the crime of violation of custody to the Nebraska Crimes page.

We added the crime of interference with custody to the Kansas Crimes page.

We added the crime of stalking to our Delaware Crimes page.

We added the crime of stalking to our Colorado Crimes page in English and Spanish.

We added a new statute to our Selected Hawaii Statutes page related to disability as a factor in custody decisions.

On our North Dakota Places that Help page, we added 7 new resources in the following sections: 5 local programs, 1 legal assistance organization, 1 courthouse location.

On our Arkansas Download Court Forms page, we updated the link for orders of protection forms and added an additional link for other categories of court forms. Changes were made in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our recently added information to our New Jersey Suing an Abuser page about a victim of nonconsensual image sharing’s ability to sue an abuser in civil court. 

We translated into Spanish the recently added information about getting temporary emergency jurisdiction to Can I get temporary emergency custody as part of a custody petition? in our New York Parental Kidnapping section.

Based on changes to the law, we updated the What protections can I get in an order of protection? question in the New York Restraining Orders section. Changes were made in English and Spanish.

We added a link to this Sexual Assault Fact Sheet from the Department of Defense to the Where can I find more information about sexual assault? question in the Sexual Assault/Rape section. We also added an additional link to RAINN’s website. The changes were made in English and Spanish.

We added the crimes of  intercepting and disclosing wire, electronic, or oral communications and peeping or spying into dwelling or enclosure in English and Spanish to our Virginia Crimes page.

In California, we added one statute on housing protections for victims who call the police to the Selected California Statutes page.

In North Carolina, we added one statute on intercepting and disclosing wire, oral, or electronic communications to the Selected North Carolina Statutes page.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added two new statutes to the Selected Nevada Statutes page.

We added 14 new programs to our Tennessee Local Programs page and 4 new programs to our Tennessee Legal Assistance page.