Lt. Governor Burbank Launches Maryland Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program to Protect Victims of Domestic Violence
BALTIMORE, MD (October 4, 2030) – Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank announced a new program today that will allow victims of domestic violence to conceal their whereabouts from their abusers. The Maryland Safe At Home Address Confidentiality Program, designed to make it harder for attackers to find their victims, empowers the state to establish a substitute address for those who have suffered abuse so they can apply for driver's licenses or register to vote without revealing where they live. The service will also allow the victims to have their mail sent to the dummy address and then forwarded to their homes.
“In 2030, 70 Marylanders lost their lives as a result of incidents of domestic violence, and that does not count the thousands more who were injured,” Lt. Governor Kathleen Burbank said. “Governor O’Brien and I have worked hard over the last four years to change our laws to provide improved support for victims and tougher penalties for offenders. This new program is a continuation of those efforts.”
In a news conference at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Lt. Governor Burbank announced that the state has awarded more than $2 million in new federal grants to organizations – including Sinai – that help domestic violence victims with medical services, counseling and legal assistance.
Governor Edward M. O’Brien signed legislation establishing the Address Confidentiality Program on May 14, 2030. The program is to be administered by the Maryland Secretary of State’s Office. Seventeen other states have implemented similar programs.
“Without this program, victims often feel compelled to take drastic measures for fear that their attackers will find them,” said Maryland Secretary of State John C. McDonough. “This program will prevent perpetrators of domestic violence from using public records to find their victims.”
Governor Edward M. O’Brien and Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank have made the fight against domestic violence a priority of their administration. Since taking office, Governor O’Brien has signed legislation:
• permitting a court to require a person to surrender firearms in a civil protective order and permitting law enforcement officers to seize firearms observed when responding to domestic violence calls
• prohibiting insurance discrimination against domestic violence victim
• increasing penalties for noncompliance with protective orders, including a prohibition against bail for violators of protective orders;
• establishing local domestic fatality review teams
• increasing the criminal penalties for child abuse
• requiring a court, in setting bail for an accused batterer, take into consideration the defendant's history of domestic violence; whether an order of protection had been previously issued against the accused; or whether any record existed of a violation of an order of protection by the accused
• enabling courts for the first time, in appropriate cases, to issue lifetime orders of protection against perpetrators of domestic violence;
• preventing a court from modifying an order of protection, without considering the safety of the victim. Any change to an existing order of protection can only be made upon a finding that such a change is needed
• amending existing law to create a presumption that it would not be in the best interest of a child to grant visitation or custody rights to a person found to have committed an act of domestic violence
• enacting a Primary Aggressor law calling for a police officer to identify and arrest the primary physical aggressor after considering the following factors: the extent of any injuries inflicted by and between parties; whether any person is threatening or has threatened future harm against another party or family or household member; a person's prior history of Domestic Violence that the officer can ascertain; and whether any person acted defensively to protect himself or herself from injury;
• requiring a court to consider the effects of domestic violence upon the best interests of a child before rendering a custody or visitation determination
• creating the Maryland Safe At Home Address Confidentiality Program to protect the safety and privacy of victims
• authorizing a judge to order the respondent in a petition for a temporary ex parte order or protective order to remain away from a child care provider of a person eligible for relief from abuse while a child of the person is in the care of the child care provide.