Domestic violence is one of the pressing issues facing Ohio's families today. In the past several years, the state legislature has begun to recognize the importance of curbing the cycle of violence in our families. This has prompted radical changes in Ohio's domestic violence laws, the most important of which was the 1994 implementation of Ohio's preferred arrest policy in domestic violence offenses.

Ohio's preferred arrest policy dictates that it is the preferred course of action that police investigating a domestic violence incident arrest the perpetrator or, if two or more parties are suspected in the altercation, arrest the "primary physical aggressor". With passage of Ohio's preferred arrest policy, the number of domestic violence charges filed rocketed and municipal courts became the front-line in the battle to end intra-family violence.

In 1995, the first full-year of the preferred arrest policy, the Delaware Municipal Court saw the number of domestic violence filings rise 300% from 43 filings in 1994 to 172 filings in 1995. This number increased an additional 20% in 1996 and then leveled off.

In 1996, newly-elected Judge Michael Hoague began to seek ways to insure justice in the ever increasing load of domestic violence cases. Domestic violence cases required special attention to the myriad of strains upon victims not always present in other types of cases, including: emotional scarring, financial burdens placed upon families, the impact on children, and the fact that after prosecution the victim and defendant frequently continued to reside in the same home. Judge Hoague recognized that something must be done to bring swift and sure closure to these cases while still dispensing required justice.

In 1997, in response to these concerns, Judge Hoague implemented the Delaware Municipal Court's Domestic Violence Accelerated Docket. Dubbed the "Rocket Docket", the policy insures that every domestic violence offense is tried within two to three weeks of the filing of the complaint. The details of the policy are as follows:

1. The bond schedule was modified to require domestic violence offenders to appear before the court before release on bond. Previously, domestic violence offenders arrested after-hours could post a bond and be released pending trial. This provision was removed until after the offender's first appearance at court. Coupled with the preferred arrest policy, this change virtually guaranteed that Judge Hoague or his magistrate would have an opportunity to review each domestic violence offender and case before the offender was released on bond.

2. Domestic violence arraignments are set each day at 10:30 AM (this may vary with the consent of the victim and the prosecutor). This insures a guaranteed time that victims of domestic violence know that they can appear to be heard by the court. A victim's advocate and prosecutor are available at this time.

   This change insures that temporary protection orders and bond hearings can be held in the presence of both the offender and the victim. Victims are required to sign recognizance bonds to insure that they will continue to appear at subsequent proceedings. Trial and pretrial dates are set at the time of arraignment within two to three weeks of the filing of the complaint. Every case is scheduled for jury trial.

   These arraignments are typically done by video arraignment thereby preventing the need to bring the victim into the actual presence of the offender.

3. Each Monday afternoon at 2:30 PM is set aside for domestic violence pretrials. All victims and defendants are required to appear. Each Tuesday morning is set aside for domestic violence jury trials on the cases pre-tried the day before.

   In addition to the court's rocket docket, the court has been on the forefront of using computers and digital photography to include pictures of domestic violence offenders on warrants and temporary protection orders. This efficient use of technology permits law enforcement agencies to be provided with actual photographs of offenders rather than mere physical descriptions as done in the past.