Restraining Orders

To file for an extreme risk protection order, you must be:

• a family member of the respondent;
• a household member of the respondent;
• a law enforcement officer who interacted with the respondent in an official capacity within the past 30 days;
• a healthcare provider who provided health care services to the respondent within the past six months;
• a principal, assistant principal, or administrator of a school or college where the respondent is enrolled; or
• the licensing authority in the city or town where the respondent lives.¹

You are considered to be a family or household member if you:

• are the respondent’s spouse or ex-spouse;
• live with or used to live with the respondent in the same household;
• are or were related by blood or marriage to the respondent;
• have or are having a child with the respondent, even if you and the respondent never married or lived together; or
• are or were in a significant dating relationship with, or engaged to, the respondent.²

¹ Petition for Extreme Risk Protection Order
² MA ST 140 § 121; Petition for Extreme Risk Protection Order