Iowa's victim notification system hasn't worked for years. The state is trying to fix it

Iowa officials are working to restart a long-shuttered notification system for domestic and sexual abuse victims who have protection or no-contact orders against their abusers.

State law directs the Iowa Attorney General's Office to maintain a system to notify victims, electronically or by phone, when their protective orders are served on the abuser, and again 30 days before that order is about to expire.

The notifications are meant to keep victims informed at what can be one of the most dangerous times for someone trying to leave a relationship, but the state discontinued the system in 2019 over reported problems with technical issues and data accuracy.

Now officials are hoping to get it up and running again, a spokesperson for Attorney General Brenna Bird confirmed to the Des Moines Register.

Internal emails obtained through a records request show John Gish, chosen by Bird to head the office's Victim Services Division after she took office last year, has been working since at least July 2023 to resume victim notifications.

The effort comes as Bird's office continues to sit on a long-delayed review of Iowa's crime victim services, which her office has previously cited in deciding to stop covering the cost of emergency contraception for rape victims.

'IPONDA' victim notification system dropped in 2019

Before 2019, victims received automatic notifications through the IowaVINE Protective Order Notification for Domestic Abuse system, or IPONDA.

According to the system's vendor, Appriss, the system was discontinued that year "because of issues with some of the data," Gish wrote in an email last year. He wrote that he hoped a new version of the system would be successful, in part because of updates to Appriss' software.

Spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet confirmed the Attorney General's Office is working to restart notifications. She did not give an estimate for when the system would be ready, but said the state expects to pay an initial cost of $338,000 and an annual fee of approximately $200,000 thereafter.

Research has shown that domestic violence victims are most at risk when trying to leave their partners, such as by obtaining protective orders, and Brouillet said the system will give victims crucial information to keep themselves safe.

"As a prosecutor, Attorney General Bird recognizes that every second counts when it comes to protecting victims," she said. "Establishing a new protective order system will alert victims and buy them critical time when law enforcement serve protective orders to their abusers."

Victim advocates say system would be helpful

Kristen Faisal, director of training for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said restarting notifications may be a good investment.

"IPONDA could be a huge bang for your buck (if) it could be one of those things that does a great deal of good very efficiently and cheaply," she said, noting that funding is also urgently needed for direct victim services.

Margaret Acosta Weirich, a senior attorney with Iowa Legal Aid, said restarting victim notifications would help many of the organization's clients.

"It may remind people to apply early for an extension of a protective order when warranted," she said. "Also, if victims know when their protective order has been served, they are able to know that it has been violated, and can take appropriate actions to keep themselves safe in situations where every minute counts."

Former official describes complicated data challenge

Janelle Melohn, who led the crime victim assistance division at the time IPONDA shut down, declined to comment specifically on the issues that arose with the original system, noting that she continues to work with both the Iowa Attorney General's Office and Appriss in her role with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But she described in email the serious technical and organizational hurdles confronting a program that would need to synthesize inputs from more than 250 law enforcement agencies, 99 county attorneys and various county court systems, all of which would rely on staff promptly entering data on new protection orders.

Melohn said she personally saw the importance of keeping victims informed early in her career while working for the Story County Jail.

"We released a man who had been arrested for simple domestic assault the night prior, and he showed up at the door of the victim's house within 15 minutes of his release," Melohn said. "I was distracted by more work and forgot to make the notification call."

Although the man in that case was arrested before harming the victim again, Melohn said the experience led her to spearhead efforts to create automated systems for Story County, and later statewide.

"Prompt, accurate notice is vital. I commend the (Iowa Attorney General's Office) and State Court Administrator's Office if they have found a way to ensure that all of these moving pieces can be culled from Iowa's systems, resulting in consistent, accurate and timely notifications to victims," she told the Register.

Effort to resume notifications tied to audit

One of Bird's first actions after taking office in January 2023 was to order a "top down and bottom up audit" of victim services, with Gish named to lead the effort.

Up to that point, the only apparent result of the audit process was Bird's decision to pause reimbursements to medical providers for sexual assault victims' emergency contraceptives.

The payments, which are not explicitly required by law, were a longstanding practice under her predecessor, Democrat Tom Miller, but Bird paused the payments and told Iowa PBS last year she intends to make any policy change permanent.

In the year since, some medical providers have chosen to take on the costs themselves, while some local governments have stepped in to provide reimbursements in their jurisdictions.

In an July 2023 email, Gish ties the efforts to resume IPONDA alerts to the ongoing review.

"One of the issues I identified in the audit was the lack of a protective order notification system for victims of sexual abuse or domestic abuse who are protected parties," he wrote to Iowa victim advocates.

Editor's note: A previously published version of this story incorrectly identified John Gish, who leads the Victim Services Division at the Iowa Attorney General's Office.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa victim notifications to restart after five year hiatus