Restraining Orders

This section defines domestic violence for the purposes of getting a domestic violence protective order.

Domestic violence (or abuse) is when a family or household member commits any of the following acts against you:

• tries to physically harm you, with or without a weapon;
• physically harms you, on purpose (intentionally) or recklessly, with or without a weapon;
• makes you afraid that s/he will physically harm you, and your fear is reasonable;
• makes you afraid of physical harm by harassment, stalking, psychological abuse, or threatening acts;
• sexually assaults you or sexually abuses you;
• kidnaps you; or
• holds or detains you against your will.¹

Note: If you reported or witnessed an act of domestic violence and, as a result, have been abused, threatened, harassed or you have been the target of other actions intended to intimidate you, you can apply for a protective order.² See Who can get a protective order? for more information.

¹ W. Va. Code § 48-27-202
² W. Va. Code § 48-27-305(3)

In West Virginia, there are two types of protective orders: emergency protective orders and final protective orders.

An emergency protective order is a court order designed to provide you and your family members with immediate protection from an abuser.  To get an emergency order, the judge must believe that you or your children are in immediate danger of abuse.  To get an order without the abuser present (known as ex parte), you may have to explain to the judge why the abuser should not be notified in advance that you are requesting an order (i.e., that your life would be in danger, etc).¹  An emergency protective order will protect you from the time you file for the final protective order until your full court hearing.  This will usually be within 10 days but could be postponed – in that case, your emergency order can be extended until the following court date.²  Note: If you already have a temporary order for divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance or custody issued by the family court against the abuser, the type of order you could get from the magistrate’s court is called a temporary emergency protective order.³  For more information, see What type of emergency protective order can I get if I am in the middle of a divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance or custody case?

A final protective order offers the same type of protection as an emergency protective order, but it lasts longer.  Since it lasts longer, you will have to have a full court hearing to get a final protective order.  In this hearing, the abuser will have a chance to respond to your petition.  A final protective order can last for 90 days, 180 days, or one year.  To qualify for a one-year final order, you have to prove at a hearing that one of the following “aggravating factors” exists:

• There has been a serious violation of a past protective order;
• Two or more protective orders have been entered against the abuser (by anyone) within the previous five years;
• The abuser has one or more prior convictions for domestic battery or assault or a felony crime of violence while you were a family or household member;
• The abuser was convicted of stalking or harassment against someone who currently has an order of protection against the abuser; or
• Given the overall circumstances of your case, a one-year order is necessary to protect the physical safety of you and/or anyone else listed on the petition.⁴

You can ask the court to extend the order but you must do so before it expires.  For more information, see How do I change or extend my protective order?

¹ W. Va. Code § 48-27-403(a)
² W. Va. Code § 48-27-403(b), (g)
³ W. Va. Code § 48-27-402
⁴ W. Va. Code § 48-5-505(a), (b)

An emergency protective order will include the following terms:

• order the abuser to stop abusing, harassing, stalking, threatening or intimidating you and/or your children;
• order the abuser not to do anything that would place you or your children in reasonable fear of bodily injury;
• order the abuser to hand in any firearms or ammunition s/he has, even if s/he is licensed to have the firearm or ammunition; and
• inform the abuser that the protective order can be enforced in every county in the state.¹

A final protective order will include the all of the restrictions listed above and it can include any or all of the following:

• grant you possession of the house or apartment you where you lived with the abuser when the abuse occurred;
• order the abuser to stay away from your residence and the area immediately surrounding it;
• award temporary custody or temporary visitation for your minor children, including supervised visitation;
• order temporary spousal and/or child support for you and your children;
• order the abuser not to enter the school, business or place of employment of you or your household/ family members for the purpose of violating the protective order;
• order the abuser to participate in a batterer’s treatment program;
• order the abuser not to contact, telephone, communicate, harass or verbally abuse you in any way;
• provide for either you or the abuser to go and get your things, including granting temporary possession of motor vehicles owned by either or both of you, and providing for your safety while this occurs (e.g., ordering a law-enforcement officer to go with one or both of you);
• order you and the abuser not to sell, give away, or destroy each other’s things (including joint property);
• give you possession and control of family pets and ordering the abuser not to harm, kill, or see the animal;
• order the abuser to pay you or any other person back for medical expenses, transportation, shelter, and any other expenses you have paid as a result of domestic violence; and
• include anything else in the order that the judge thinks is necessary to keep you and whoever else is on the protection order safe.²

The judge will decide which of these will be included in your protective order based on the facts of your case.

¹ W. Va. Code § 48-27-502(a), (b)
² W. Va. Code §§ 48-27-502(a), (b); 48-27-503

Si el/la agresor/a vive en un estado diferente al suyo, el/la juez/a podría no tener “jurisdicción personal” (poder) sobre ese/a agresor/a. Esto significa que es posible que el tribunal no pueda otorgar una orden en contra de él/ella.

Hay algunas formas en las que una corte puede tener jurisdicción personal sobre un/a agresor/a que es de otro estado:

1. El/la agresor/a tiene una conexión sustancial a su estado. Quizás el/la agresor/a viaja regularmente a su estado para visitarlo/a, por negocios, para ver la familia extendida, o el/la agresor/a vivía en su estado y huyó recientemente.
2. Uno de los actos de maltrato “ocurrió” en su estado. Quizás el/la agresor/a le envía mensajes amenazantes o le hace llamadas acosadoras desde otro estado pero usted lee los mensajes o contesta las llamadas mientras usted está en su estado. El/la juez/a puede decidir que el maltrato “ocurrió” mientras estaba en su estado. También puede ser posible que el/la agresor/a estaba en su estado cuando le maltrató pero desde entonces se fue del estado.
3. Otra forma para que la corte adquiera jurisdicción es si usted presenta su petición en el estado donde usted está, y el/la agresor/a recibe notificación de la petición de la corte mientras él/ella está en ese estado.

Sin embargo, aunque nada de esto aplique a su situación, eso no necesariamente significa que usted no pueda conseguir una orden. A usted le pueden dar una orden por consentimiento o el/la juez/a puede encontrar otras circunstancias que permitan que la orden sea dada. Puede leer más sobre jurisdicción personal en nuestra sección de Asuntos Básicos del Sistema Judicial - Jurisdicción Personal.

Nota: Si el/la juez/a de su estado se niega a dar una orden, usted puede pedir una orden en la corte del estado donde vive el/la agresor/a. Sin embargo, recuerde que es probable que usted necesite presentar la petición en persona y asistir a varias citas en la corte, lo cual podría ser difícil si el estado de el/la agresor/a es lejos.