ARKANSAS -- A cell phone is both a lifeline to seek help and a link for an abuser to follow for victims of domestic violence. They will be able to keep the lifeline and cut the link under a law that took effect Saturday.
The law allows a judge to sever a victim's cell phone from an abuser's phone plan. This will allow the victim to keep the phone with the same number and get his or her own plan. Children under the care of the victim may also keep access to their phones under the victim's new plan.
AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and other major service providers all gave legal help to draft the law and supported its passage in the Legislature earlier this year, said Cathy Foraker, spokeswoman for AT&T.
All those companies have encountered the problem of abuse victims being dependent on an abuser's phone contract because it's in the abuser's name, she said. There was no legally-sanctioned method for splitting a plan-holder's contract and a clear need for one, she said.
About Act 577
Act 577 of 2017 became law Saturday, having passed the state House 93-0 and the Senate 33-0. "I didn't hear from a single person who was opposed to this" while his bill worked its way through the Legislature, said sponsor Jeff Williams, R-Springdale.
Source: Staff Report
General News on 07/05/2017