The OVW domestic violence mentor court technical assistance initiative (mentor court initiative) recognizes well-established specialized courts and enables them to guide novice or developing courts…

The Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women awarded the Judiciary Courts of the State of Minnesota a $147,182 Cooperative Agreement on October 1, 2025, under the Office on Violence Against Women Special Projects program (CFDA 16.029). The award supports the Beltrami County Domestic Violence Mentor Court, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, which serves as one of five nationally selected mentor court sites under the OVW Domestic Violence Mentor Court Technical Assistance Initiative.

The recipient will assist in selecting jurisdictions to receive mentorship, develop and maintain mentoring relationships with selected jurisdictions planning domestic violence courts, and plan and host six to nine site visits for mentee jurisdictions. The Mentor Court will travel two to three times to selected jurisdictions to provide on-site technical assistance on developing domestic violence courts or dockets, share domestic violence-related court forms, procedures, and protocols, and send team members to one to two Mentor Court all-sites meetings. The recipient will participate in the OVW Judicial Engagement Network Summit and in OVW-sponsored judicial forums and roundtable meetings, respond to technical assistance inquiries from courts beyond those selected for mentorship, host open house events for interested jurisdictions, and collaborate with OVW technical assistance providers.

The period of performance runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The OVW domestic violence mentor court technical assistance initiative (mentor court initiative) recognizes well-established specialized courts and enables them to guide novice or developing courts and court-based programs that wish to significantly improve their responses to domestic violence cases and ensure victim safety and offender accountability. These well-established courts serve as national models and share their expertise by hosting site visits, linking courts with peers facing similar challenges, and assisting other domestic violence courts to implement best practices to respond effectively to these difficult cases. Five courts were competitively selected to serve as mentor court sites. Each site will: 1) assist in selecting jurisdictions to receive mentorship; 2) develop and maintain a mentoring relationship with selected jurisdictions planning domestic violence courts; 3) plan and host 6-9 site visits for selected jurisdictions to assist them in planning a domestic violence docket or court; 4) travel 2-3 times to selected jurisdictions to provide on-site technical assistance on developing domestic violence courts or docket; 5) share domestic violence related court forms, procedures, and protocols; 6) send members of the recipient'smentor court team to 1-2 mentor court all sites meetings; 7) participate in the OVW judicial engagement network summit; 8) develop and participate in OVW-sponsored judicial forums and roundtable meetings; 9) respond to technical assistance inquiries from courts other than mentee courts; 10) host mentor court open house events for jurisdictions interested in planning domestic violence courts other than the selected mentee courts; and 11) collaborate with OVW technical assistance providers. The judiciary courts of the state of minnesota, MINNESOTA9TH judicial district, beltrami county domestic violence mentor court, located in ST. Paul, MN, is one of the five selected courts.