By Journalist Olivia Kopang (OSU)
Saturday morning, a bill titled “Stalking Letter Reform” (OSU-011) was passed in the Senate. The bill relates to stalking prevention and giving stalking victims the proper resources to defend themselves against their perpetrator. The author of this bill, Rep. Lindsey Smith (OSU), was ecstatic that it passed unanimously.
This bill aims to improve upon the current Stalking Warning Letter and put victims at the center of this issue rather than pushing them to the side. Now victims will have the choice of requesting a letter and in doing so, give resources to law enforcement.
For the author of this bill, the reasoning for writing this legislation is personal.
After her internship with Domestic Violence Intervention Services this past summer, Smith recognized how much needs to change.
“I realized how big of a problem this [stalking] is and that the Stalking Warning Letter is redundant, and it needs to be definitely an option that victims can choose to partake in, but it should not be required of them.”
Senators were eager to ask questions of the author and get a detailed picture of how this bill can actually protect victims and not decrease the power of law enforcement agencies. Although there was a calm atmosphere among the body after the questions had concluded, it didn’t make the piece of legislation any less subject to a line of tough questioning.
The most difficult question for Smith was “the question about the impact on police departments and sheriffs because this warning letter is having such a negative impact upon sheriffs, it’s taking time out of their day, taxpayers money on gas, on supplies, on paper, on everything.”
Questions from senators just challenged Smith to understand her bill more thoroughly.
With the passing of this bill, there was an excited body and an even more excited author.