Vanderburgh Superior Court offering a hand to domestic abuse victims

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Vanderburgh County Superior Court will soon be extending their assistance to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The court was awarded $700,000 dollars from a federal grant.

We’re told this will continue funding for the county’s Protective Order Assistance Office.

It provides services to those seeking help in completing applications for protection orders and advises victims about court procedures.

Superior Court Judge Mary Margaret Lloyd says the grant will also allow them to hire two bilingual advocates and attorneys to represent victims

“We’ll supply attorneys for the hearings on protection orders. A lot of times you’ll have the domestic violence victim or sexual assault victim have to come to court hearing and testify,” she says. “They also have to present evidence and its a frightening process... Who are we kidding? It’s a scary process, and sometimes they don’t know what they’re doing exactly.”

Judge Lloyd say there’s not set timeline to roll out the new program just yet.

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