Although a new law toughening domestic violence penalties will send a strong message to batterers, more work needs to be done to protect victims, advocates say.

“The success of this law will depend on how well the system does in implementing it,” said Vicki Bourus, director of the S.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

The law, signed last week by Gov. Mark Sanford, imposes mandatory minimum sentences for more serious domestic violence offenses and higher fines. It also requires judges to undergo training in domestic violence issues.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1. That gives court and law enforcement officials time to adjust to the changes, said Laura Hudson, spokeswoman for the S.C. Victim Assistance Network.

Hudson said she will push for more changes when the Legislature reconvenes in January. For example, she said she would like to see a new crime category of criminal domestic violence with intent to kill.

The new charge would carry stiffer sentences than the current most serious charge of criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, which has a maximum 10-year sentence, she said.

Aggravated criminal domestic violence also should be expanded to include acts done in the presence of children, she said.

“We know that’s such an influence on the life of a child,” Hudson said.

Lynn Hawkins, director of SAFE Homes-Rape Crisis Coalition in Spartanburg, said she hopes lawmakers next year will reconsider banning convicted batterers from owning guns. Victim advocates reluctantly agreed to drop that provision from the new law.

“It’s hard in a state where gun rights are such a strongly held belief,” Hawkins said. “But I don’t think a person convicted of criminal domestic violence should have a handgun in a state with some of the highest rates of domestic homicide with handguns.”’

Nancy Barton, director of Sistercare, which operates battered-women’s shelters in the Midlands, said she would like to seek more emphasis placed on enforcing existing laws mandating arrests when there is probable cause of domestic violence.

“We don’t see, in a number of cases, the deputy or officer detaining the person who is the primary aggressor,” Barton said.

Other problems occur after arrest, victim advocates say. No state agency, for example, tracks how lower-level cases move through magistrate and municipal courts, where most of the estimated annual 36,000 domestic violence cases are heard.

And no state agency tracks how often first-time offenders who complete prosecutor-run programs that allow their charges to be dropped go on to commit repeat offenses.

“Until we know how to fix it, we’re just boxing in the dark,” Hudson said.

Hudson and Bourus said they want to work with state court officials, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to create better data collection systems.

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or rbrundrett@thestate.com.