Relationships

• The parameters for arrest vary from state to state. Almost all states which enforce mandatory arrest laws define domestic violence as occurring between a current or former spouse, current or former cohabitant and related by blood or marriage (see Reference 1). States differ greatly on whether domestic violence includes couples with a child in common or couples in a dating relationship (see Reference 1).
  
  

States

• As of August 2010, 24 states, including Washington, D.C., have passed mandatory arrest legislation.
  
  

Legislation

• Every state has different requirements to determine qualifying factors for mandatory arrest. Some states require the involvement of a weapon. In some states, the abuse must have occurred in the past 24 hours. But in Washington State, the abuse must have happened in the past four hours.