State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Utah > Title-78b > Chapter-07 > 78b-7-113

78B-7-113. Statewide domestic violence network -- Peace officers' duties --Prevention of abuse in absence of order -- Limitation of liability.
(1) (a) Law enforcement units, the Department of Public Safety, and the AdministrativeOffice of the Courts shall utilize statewide procedures to ensure that peace officers at the scene ofan alleged violation of a protective order have immediate access to information necessary toverify the existence and terms of that order, and other orders of the court required to be madeavailable on the network by the provisions of this chapter or Title 77, Chapter 36, CohabitantAbuse Procedures Act. Those officers shall use every reasonable means to enforce the court'sorder, in accordance with the requirements and procedures of this chapter and Title 77, Chapter36, Cohabitant Abuse Procedures Act.
(b) The Administrative Office of the Courts, in cooperation with the Department ofPublic Safety and the Criminal Investigations and Technical Services Division, established inSection 53-10-103, shall provide for a single, statewide network containing:
(i) all orders for protection issued by a court of this state; and
(ii) all other court orders or reports of court action that are required to be available on thenetwork under this chapter and Title 77, Chapter 36, Cohabitant Abuse Procedures Act.
(c) The entities described in Subsection (1)(b) may utilize the same mechanism as thestatewide warrant system, described in Section 53-10-208.
(d) All orders and reports required to be available on the network shall be availablewithin 24 hours after court action. If the court that issued the order is not part of the state courtcomputer system, the orders and reports shall be available on the network within 72 hours.
(e) The information contained in the network shall be available to a court, lawenforcement officer, or agency upon request.
(2) When any peace officer has reason to believe a cohabitant or child of a cohabitant isbeing abused, or that there is a substantial likelihood of immediate danger of abuse, although noprotective order has been issued, that officer shall use all reasonable means to prevent the abuse,including:
(a) remaining on the scene as long as it reasonably appears there would otherwise bedanger of abuse;
(b) making arrangements for the victim to obtain emergency medical treatment;
(c) making arrangements for the victim to obtain emergency housing or shelter care;
(d) explaining to the victim his or her rights in these matters;
(e) asking the victim to sign a written statement describing the incident of abuse; or
(f) arresting and taking into physical custody the abuser in accordance with theprovisions of Title 77, Chapter 36, Cohabitant Abuse Procedures Act.
(3) No person or institution may be held criminally or civilly liable for the performanceof, or failure to perform, any duty established by this chapter, so long as that person acted in goodfaith and without malice.

Amended by Chapter 324, 2010 General Session