FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1996                       (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
       RENO VISITS KENTUCKY TO ANNOUNCE INNOVATIVE EFFORT
         TO UPHOLD DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTIVE ORDERS
             AGAINST ABUSERS WHO CROSS STATE LINES
                                
     FRANKFORT, KY -- Speaking to a rare joint session of the
Kentucky Assembly today, Attorney General Janet Reno announced
that the U.S. Justice Department will join Kentucky's Justice
Cabinet in the nation's first-ever state project to improve the
interstate enforcement of civil and criminal protective orders in
domestic violence cases.

     Under the project, which stems from conversations Reno had
with state domestic violence officials last year, the two
departments will develop and test various enforcement methods. 

     Reno noted how hard it can be to get one state to enforce
another state's protective orders against abusers, despite new
requirements to do so in the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. 
Many states have different laws for issuing and administering
protective orders, and it is often difficult to verify out of
state orders.

     "Victims of domestic abuse frequently have to flee to
another state, and batterers often try to come after them. If a
protective order can't follow them, it is worthless," said Reno.  
"Kentucky is making a historic effort to help stop this historic
flaw in our justice system." 

     After a 1991 report noted weaknesses in statewide
enforcement of protective orders from various counties, Kentucky
developed an on-line protective order system as part of its Law
Information Network of Kentucky (LINK).  The LINK system now
quickly verifies the existence and conditions of orders entered
in any of the state's 120 counties. Other Efforts to Fight Violence Against Women

     In Washington today, President Clinton also announced a new
nationwide 24-hour toll-free domestic hotline -- 1-800-799-SAFE. 
The hotline will provided immediate crisis intervention
assistance to those in need. 

     Reno, the first U.S. Attorney General to speak before the
Kentucky State Assembly, also reviewed the Clinton
Administration's comprehenseive efforts to fight violence against
women.  The 1994 Violence Against Women Act, passed as part of
that year's Crime Act, combined tough new penalties with $1.6
billion over five years to prosecute offenders and help women
victims of violence.

     Since VAWA's enactment, the Justice Department has awarded
$26 million in grants to strengthen law enforcement strategies
and improve victims' services in cases involving violent crimes
against women.  The Department's Office of Community Oriented
Policing Services (COPS) is developing an innovative grant
program to assist police departments in applying community
policing techniques to fight domestic violence.  The Department
is also finalizing guidelines to implement the Jacob Wetterling
Act, which gives states a financial incentive to adopt effective
registration systems for persons convicted of sexually violent
crimes and for convicted child molesters.

     The Clinton Administration's Department of Health and Human
Services is also administering grants for battered women's
shelters, for education and prevention efforts to reduce sexual
assault, to help build community programs to prevent domestic
violence, and educate young people about domestic violence.

     U.S. Justice Department statistics indicate that more than
one million women a year are victims of violence perpetrated by
husbands or boyfriends, and one-third of all female murder
victims over age 14 are killed by boyfriends, spouses or ex-spouses.   Justice Department statistics from 1994 reported
indicate that more than two-thirds of violent victimizations
against women were committed by someone known to them,
approximately 28 percent being husbands, boyfriends, or other
intimate partners. 

     The federal part of the project will be paid for by a
federal grant of $220,000, contributed by the Justice
Department's COPS Office and its Office of Victims of Crime.  The
Department's Office of Policy Development and Office of Justice
Programs will also assist the project.

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96-057