KCSARC Services - King County Sexual Assault Resource Center

Sexual Assault Protection Order (SAPO) CasesCourtWatch tracked 227 SAPO cases filed in or transferred to King County Superior Court between 2010and 2012. To compile our data, we researched the electronic court records in all cases and attendedproceedings in 59% of the cases.Attorneys:30% of SAPO cases had attorney involvement:Petitioner Only: 7%Respondent Only: 10%Both parties represented: 13%Neither party represented 70%In cases where the petitioner only was represented, the SAPO was granted in 81% of cases. In cases wherethe respondent only was represented, the SAPO was granted in 36% of cases. 1 When both parties wererepresented, the SAPO was granted in 29% of cases and agreed orders were entered in 29% of cases.When neither party was represented, SAPOs were granted in 47% of cases and agreed orders wereentered in 1% of cases.Criminal Case Status:13% of SAPO cases also involved criminal charges filed against the respondent. At the time the petitionersought the SAPO, it is known that there was a criminal investigation pending in 28% of cases. In 1% of casesthe petitioner sought a SAPO against a respondent who had been acquitted at trial, and in 1% of cases theSAPO was sought post-conviction, either when the respondent was being released from prison or when therespondent pled guilty to a charge where a criminal SAPO was not issued.Overall SAPO Case Resolution:Granted after hearing with both parties present: 24%Granted - respondent absent: 21%Dismissed- both parties absent: 19%Dismissed after hearing with both parties present: 19%Dismissed at petitioner’s request: 7%Dismissed- petitioner absent: 5%Agreement between the parties reached: 4%Unknown: 1%Length of SAPO Cases:Overall, the cases that have been resolved took an average of 3.9 weeks to reach a resolution. Thismeans that there was an average of 2 hearings per SAPO case before a resolution was reached.1 In all of the cases were a SAPO was granted, there was a criminal case or pending criminal investigation.Created 01/2013

Judges Involved:There were anywhere from 0 – 5 different judges involved in any one SAPO case. 41 different judges fromKing County Superior Court presided over at least one SAPO hearing. 2 There were also at least 4 differentpro tems who presided over at least one SAPO.Information about the Parties:In the cases tracked, 11% of petitioners were male and 89% of petitioners were female. The respondent wasmale in 98% of the cases and 2% of respondents were female.In 42% of the cases the SAPO was sought on behalf of a child under16 years of age. The remaining 58% ofSAPOs were sought by petitioners over age 16.In 90% of the cases there was a pre-existing relationship between the parties before the alleged sexualassault.Service of Process:In approximately 1 out of 3 cases that we observed, the personal service requirement presented an issue.This means that the SAPO hearings were continued due to a petitioner’s inability to serve the respondent,the case was dismissed due to the petitioner’s inability to serve the respondent, or the petitioner droppedout of the process after unsuccessful service attempts. This is a statewide issue. In a survey, 63% of advocatesacross the state said the personal service requirement often presents a problem for their clients.Note: There is pending legislative action to amend the notice requirements of chapter 7.90 RCW to includeservice via publication and service by mail. 3 This would make the SAPO statute more consistent with chapter26.50 RCW governing domestic violence protection orders.2 Andrus, Barnett, Benton, Cahan, Carey, Cayce, Craighead, Darvas, Downing, DuBuque, Eadie, Erlick, Gain, Gonzalez, Halpert,Hayden, Heavey, Hill, Inveen, Kessler, Linde, Mack, McCarthy, McCullough, Middaugh, North, Oishi, Prochnau, Rietschel,Robinson, Rogers, Saint Clair, Schapira, Shaffer, Smith, Spearman, Spector, Trickey, Washington, White, Yu3 See SB 5175 at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5175&year=2013 and HB 1307 athttp://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1307&year=2013