Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has signed a bill into law that’s designed to help victims of domestic abuse, stalking, sex abuse and human trafficking who want to keep their address secret, so their abuser can’t find them.
Victims will be able to get a new legal address, so they don’t have to list their home address when applying for a job, signing their kids up for school, registering to vote or taking some other action that requires disclosure of a home address — information a stalker or an “ex” might be able to find online. Judy Harberts of Holland, in Grundy County, was at the bill signing, because her daughter couldn’t. Harberts daughter moved to California, to escape a dangerous ex-husband.
Her daughter is now one of three-thousand women in California who have a post office box as their legal address, provided by the State of California. Harberts says victims who hear this story should seek out help — and sign up for the State of Iowa’s “Safe At Home” program.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate plans to have the program up and running by January 1st. Pate had asked legislators for 45-thousand dollars in start-up funds, but House Republicans balked, so he’s got to cut elsewhere to find the money to promote the program.
Fines from offenders will cover the cost of renting the post office boxes the victims will be using as their legal address. About 15-hundred victims are participating in Minnesota’s “Safe At Home” program, while about 500 victims are signed up in Missouri.
The bill creating the state-run confidential address program for victims of abuse passed the Iowa House and Senate unanimously this year.
