The Iowa Legislature has approved a bill that makes it easier for victims of domestic violence to get a restraining order against their attacker. The bill eliminates the court fees charged when someone requests a restraining order. Representative Roger Broers, a republican from Mason City, says judges often waive the fee anyway, but this makes it law.Broers estimates there are a hundred thousand dollars worth of court filing fees each year on these kind of cases.Broers says the state would lose more than a million bucks in federal money if the law isn’t passed. The bill gained final passage yesterday in the House and is on its way to Governor Vilsack for his signature. The bill does allow judges to make the defendant who’s the subject of the restraining order pay the filing fee, which is already common practice.
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