Good morning,
I have been fortunate as well up here in Roseau County. I have been filling
out OFP and HRO’s over the phone. The signature has been a bit tricky but the
last couple I had the client meet me out in our parking lot to sign. I can
either have the client bring it up to the courthouse but the court house
prefers that I email it to court administration. I haven’t had a client yet
that didn’t have a way to get here. If gas money is an issue, I can give them
gas vouchers. Or I can meet them somewhere and limit contact as much as
possible. If a client has access to a printer and scanner, I can eliminate all
contact and send everything that way.
The courthouse is utilizing the remote/conference call hearing option as much
as they can. I have not had an OFP/HRO hearing yet since the pandemic. Has
anyone experienced that yet? If so, please share.
I just had a conference call with the county attorney’s office and victim
regarding a plea offer. So they have been really great to keep including me in
things like that. I had another hearing this week that I was able to call in
to. They have also been emailing me any updates to court/jail/law enforcement
policy updates.
That is awesome for Cass and Clay counties to be able to sign orders that way.
That is a really helpful.
Overall, I am still trying to fine tune the best way to file orders, without
risking the health of my clients and myself.
[cid:image001.jpg@01D45BDA.4CB97E10]Rachel Dahl
DV/SA Advocate
phone: 218-242-0848
[cid:image001.jpg@01D429A4.3BBEEA90]<https://twitter.com/VIP_NW_MN>[cid:image002.png@01D429A4.3BBEEA90]<https://www.facebook.com/Violence-Intervention-Project-490897814291459/>
Violence Intervention Project<http://www.violenceintervention.org/>
216 Center Street West, #104
Roseau, MN 56751
www.violenceintervention.org<http://www.violenceintervention.org/>
From: legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Annette White
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 11:16 AM
To: legaladvocates@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [legaladvocates] Re: Court Stories
Good Morning,
We have been very fortunate in Cass and Clearwater Counties, they have included
us in their meetings and kept us abreast of how they are moving forward with
court practices. Beginning this week we attend all hearings by phone with our
client. Also they have allowed us complete OFP and HRO paperwork over the
phone with clients and then we print he clients name and sign our name. We
also provide a release signed through docusign. In Hubbard County they have
used social distancing in the court room which has proven challenging. Also
they will only allow the petitioner to bring the paperwork in to file and HRO
or OFP. We are having conversations with them to see if we can make the
process a little easier on the petitioner since many times they have no
transportation etc.
Annette White
Family Safety Network
From:
legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:legaladvocates-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
On Behalf Of Rana Alexander
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2020 10:21 AM
To: legaladvocates
<legaladvocates@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:legaladvocates@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Subject: [legaladvocates] Court Stories
Hello Lovely Advocates!
First of all I want to thank you all for the amazing work that you are doing to
help victim/survivors in this time of uncertainty. I am impressed daily at the
creativity and nimbleness of you and your programs. It often feels like our
entire lives were turned upside down in the last two weeks and everything we
knew about how we provide advocacy has changed. While the methods of how we
provide advocacy might have changed, the core tenants of advocacy hasn’t.
As we all know, the court system has also been struggling to figure out how to
balance social distancing with court hearings. With this in mind, Standpoint,
MNCASA and VFMN are reaching out to you to help us know what I happening in
your court system. We would like to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. What
are you seeing? What is working? What is not working? Please help us understand
what it looks like on the ground in your community.
Please email me directly at rana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:rana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.
Standpoint, MNCASA, and VFMN are here to support you.
Thank you for all you do for domestic and sexual violence victims/survivors!
R
Rana S Alexander, Esq.
Executive Director
Standpoint
F/K/A Battered Women's Legal Advocacy Project
2233 University Avenue, Suite 150
St. Paul, MN 55114
d) 612-343-9844
o) 612-343-9842
t) 800-313-2666
f) 612-343-0786
rana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:rana@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
www.standpointmn.org<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.standpointmn.org%2F&data=01%7C01%7Cdirector%40familysafetynetwork.net%7Cd2a6b916263e4ee0adba08d7d65046e1%7Cc38d889100484335b36eada219f0d27d%7C0&sdata=TiOVFisBtQC9U%2BCwlUVdeFrCGVvJ5Gnv%2BmTkF1AwFT0%3D&reserved=0>
Please recycle your old cell phones to benefit Standpoint. To find out more
information, visit our website at
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