CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The domestic violence court program in Kanawha County will soon come to an end.
The state Supreme Court announced last week the program will end April 30. This comes after the Supreme Court received complaints about the operation of the Kanawha County Domestic Violence Court.
The pilot program is designed to closely monitor thousands of domestic violence cases that are filed in Kanawha County each year. Kanawha Magistrate Julie Yeager handled all of the county’s domestic violence cases.
Yeager said she was shocked to hear the news.
“It’s so surprising because we were a pilot project,” Yeager told Charleston Mayor Danny Jones on Monday’s “580 Live” heard on 580-WCHS in Charleston. “Just last June, the Legislature passed the bill that made us a permanent court. We were going to expand to other counties.”
Kanawha County currently has 10 magistrates. Yeager will continue to operate the Domestic Violence Court as it is until April 30. On May 1, Yeager will return to the regular rotation of magistrates. All domestic violence cases will be distributed among the 10 magistrates.
Existing cases will not start over. Those cases will continue at whatever stage of the process they’re in.
The number of domestic violence deaths across the state continues to increase, Yeager said.
“A lot of which was in Kanawha County because we’re the most populated county. The Supreme Court, after reviewing the records from the Fatality Review Board, said we’ve got to do something different,” she explained.
Yeager said she’s concerned the program is ending because they’ve had a lot of success stories and have provided security to victims.
“It’s sad for both the perpetrators and the victims. We’ve had so many success stories. Guys that come in here — ‘Thank you Magistrate Yeager. My family is back together. You saved my life’,” she said.
Kanawha County’s program was implemented five years ago.