Safe at Home, a program recently launched by the Secretary of State’s office, was initiated to protect victims of domestic abuse by masking their address from most public records.
The General Assembly unanimously passed legislation authorizing the Safe at Home program earlier this year. Research has shown that abusers and stalkers have sometimes easily accessed public government records to collect home addresses for victims who moved.
County officials learned more about this program and how it potentially affects their offices in a virtual leadership class recently hosted by KACo.
Kentucky Assistant Secretary of State Jennifer Scutchfield said that previously there was the address confidentiality program, but county clerks and officials from the State Board of Elections were the only ones who dealt with it much.
“But what this (new) law basically does, those victims that are certified into the program from being available to public … the agency just cannot give the address out without an official call,” Scutchfield said. “(This) is a great expansion of a program that is much needed.
“We’re catching up with 38 states out in the U.S. that have enacted something similar,” Scutchfield added.
Gregory McNeill, a senior advisor in the Secretary of State’s office, said that Kentucky has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the country.
“In fact, by some estimates, it’s the highest,” McNeill said. “A little less than half of all women and a little over a third of all men have experienced domestic violence in Kentucky. And … public records, through government agencies, are often free. They are a tool that a lot of abusers, stalkers and whatnot can use to find victims that are trying to flee a violent situation.”
The previous program required that a victim have a protective order, which appeared to decrease the amount of people signing up for the added protection of an undisclosed address.
That requirement is now gone.
“It (now) says that state and local government agencies, counties now must accept a substitute address that is designated by the Secretary of State in place of an address that you would take from somebody otherwise in the course of your business,” McNeill said. “And that address itself, and the person’s record(s) are exempted from open records requests.”
If there’s an existing file for somebody, that person can request a change to their file to reflect the new substitute address, according to McNeill.
Victims aren’t the only ones who can sign up for Safe at Home. Along with victims of domestic violence, stalking or human trafficking, someone residing in the home of someone who qualifies under Safe at Home can register.
A student, who was in an abusive relationship in high school, for example, might be leaving for college, and they plan to share an apartment with a friend. If the abusive person knows the two are living together, they might track down an address through the friend.
“They could potentially say, ‘Well, I can’t get access to my former partner’s information, but I know that she’s living with her friend, so I could get access to that,” McNeill said. “That would be a situation where that person would want to also enroll in Safe at Home.”
County officials need to know how to properly identify people who are appropriately registered in the Safe at Home program when they come into an office. McNeill said program members will provide a photo ID card listing a specific address designated by the Secretary of State’s office.
McNeill said there are some exemptions to who can register.
To watch to the presentation, click here.
The see the training material, click here.
