Tuesday, March 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- With an estimated 36,000 women expected to be victims of domestic violence in Nevada this year, an Assembly bill would hammer the assailants and make it easier to sue them for damages.
An overflowing crowd, composed mostly of women, appeared before the Assembly Judiciary Committee Monday, showing support for Assembly Bill 170 that would make a number of key changes in the law.
Reno City Attorney Patricia Lynch told the committee that stronger penalties, as imposed for drunken drivers, work.
Family Court Judge Robert Gaston of Las Vegas said, "This is without a doubt the most comprehensive bill on domestic violence the committee has ever dealt with." To illustrate the problem, Gaston said District Court handled 196 cases in 1986 and 6,162 last year.
Asked the reason for the escalation, Gaston said, "We made it easier to report. We made it easier to get access to the courts. I don't think the people of Nevada are getting meaner."
The bill by Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, would punish a first offense with jail time ranging from two days to six months or 48 to 120 hours of community service. The mandatory fine would range from $200 to $1,000.
A second offense within seven years would carry 10 days to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000. A third offense would be a felony with up to five years in prison and a fine of at least $10,000.
She said at least 19 women in Nevada were murdered in 1995 by husbands or boyfriends. While Ohrenschall said the bill is "gender neutral," it's clear that women's organizations are the central force behind the legislation.
Del Papa said the way to break the "cycle of violence" is by "incarceration and then counseling."
The bill would require a person convicted of a first offense to undergo weekly counseling sessions for six months. For the second-time offender, the counseling would last for one year.
The bill would create an ombudsman for domestic violence in the office of the attorney general and establish a central repository for protective orders, allowing one county to check if an order is issued in another county.
Gaston said there's a "disjointed effort" now with each county struggling with the issue.
"Every community is doing something, but there is no centralized office to call," he said. A central office, he said, would permit standards to be set for training and counseling and for the gathering of statistics.
But Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, said he's worried that money now going to victims and those who care for them would be drained by the proposed programs.
"I see a lot of programs that are not helping the true victim, but they keep the bureaucracy going," Carpenter said.
Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, chairman of the committee, said the large turnout made it impossible to take all the testimony. But he named two subcommittees, one headed by himself and the other by Assemblyman Dario Herrera, D-Las Vegas, to hold additional hearings and to work on suggested amendments to the bill.
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