A state law set to take effect next year should help determine with greater accuracy how likely domestic violence offenders are to commit new crimes — and it should help protect their victims.

The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment was adopted by Maine lawmakers as a tool to better assess offenders using a 13-question survey that Maine law enforcement officers will be required to fill out at scenes of domestic violence calls.

Officer training on the assessment started last year, and judges’ training began last month. 

Bail commissioners were trained over the summer, said Anne Jordan, process improvements manager at the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts.

“We wanted it really fresh in their minds for when the statute started,” she said.

Training can be done in person or online, she said.

ODARA is an evidence-based, scientifically tested risk assessment in domestic violence cases, Jordan said. But it’s just “one of many, many facts” bail commissioners and judges will consider in setting bail for a domestic violence defendant, Jordan said. Other factors will include the nature of the charge, as well as the defendant’s criminal history and connection to the community.

“It doesn’t control whether or not bail gets set,” Jordan said. “It is simply an actuarial-based risk assessment that tells the bail commissioner (or judge) based on the various scores and how they go through it the chances and risks of re-assault.”

Law enforcement officers will determine whether a defendant scores a “one” or a “zero” on each of the ODARA 13 questions. The total score is used by a bail commission or judge to help them understand the chances that defendant will commit a new domestic violence assault, Jordan said. Some of the questions involve interviewing the victim.

The law was passed in 2012 by the Maine Legislature, aimed at ultimately protecting victims of domestic violence assaults in this state, where more than 5,000 cases were reported in 2012, according to the Uniform Crime Report at the Maine Department of Public Safety. Of the roughly 25 homicides committed in Maine each year, nearly half involve domestic violence.

Although first responders will be responsible for completing the questionnaire, it will be used by bail commissioners, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys in determining bail. In many cases since 2012, bail commissioners have been barred from setting bail for defendants in domestic violence cases, including felonies, or for defendants who had been released on bail for domestic violence offenses.

In those cases, only a judge can set bail, Jordan said.

Maine will become the first state in the country to implement the ODARA system statewide, Jordan said. In some other states, various counties have started using the questionnaire.

An Idaho judicial district had received a federal grant to implement ODARA. A judge from Boise, Idaho, came to Maine to help train judges here. Some law enforcement departments in Maine, such as Saco, have already put ODARA in place, Jordan said.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com