Restraining Orders

Here are some things you may want to consider doing. However, you will have to evaluate each one to see if it works for your situation.

• Review the order before you leave the courthouse. If something is wrong or missing, ask the clerk to correct the order before you leave.
• If you are concerned that the abuser will harass you when you leave the courthouse, ask the court officer if s/he would escort you to the door of the building. If you are afraid the abuser may follow you once you leave the courthouse, explain this to the court officer. The court officer might hold the abuser there for a few minutes while you leave so that you can get a head start, which would make it difficult for the abuser to trail you. This could be especially important if you are living in a shelter or confidential location and you do not want the abuser to know where you are staying.
• Make several copies of the protective order as soon as possible.
• Keep a copy of the order with you at all times.
• Leave copies of the order at your work place, at your home, at the children’s school or daycare, in your car, with a sympathetic neighbor, and so on.
• Give a copy to the security guard or person at the front desk where you live and/or work along with a photo of the abuser.
• Give a copy of the order to anyone who is named in and protected by the order.
• If the court has not given you an extra copy for your local law enforcement agency, take one of your extra copies and deliver it to them.
• You may wish to consider changing your locks (if permitted by law) and your phone number.

Ongoing safety planning is important after receiving the order. People can do a number of things to increase their safety during violent incidents, when preparing to leave an abusive relationship, and when they are at home, work, and school. Many batterers obey protective orders, but some do not. It is important to build on the things you have already been doing to keep yourself safe. Click on the following link for suggestions on Safety Planning. Advocates at local resource centers can also assist you in designing a safety plan and can provide other forms of support as well.

Each protective order includes protections that are in two separate sections. Depending on which section of the order is violated, it could be a crime or it could just be civil contempt of court. You can see the two sections on the petition or on your order. You can call the police or sheriff for criminal violations. An abuser can be arrested, fined and jailed for criminal violations of the order.

Make sure a police report is filled out, even if no arrest is made. If you have legal documentation of all violations of the protective order, it could help you have the protective order extended or modified. It is also a good idea to write down the name of the responding officers and their badge numbers in case you want to follow up on your case.

If the police do not make an arrest in response to a violation of your protective order or the violation is not a criminal offense, you may still file for civil contempt against the abuser yourself in a district court. If you feel that that an arrest should have been made by the police but they failed to do so, you can file a complaint through the attorney general’s victim advocacy council. You can find the complaint form on the Office of the Attorney General website.

For more information about contempt, including the difference between criminal contempt and civil contempt, go to our general Domestic Violence Restraining Orders page.

The judge could dismiss the civil protections, which are the second group listed on the order, at any time if one party files a petition requesting this and the other side is properly served and has a chance to appear at a hearing. These protections can also be dismissed as part of a divorce, parentage, custody, or guardianship proceeding that is pending between the parties if certain circumstances are met.¹

If either party files in court to dismiss the criminal protections of the order within the first two years, a judge will only do so if you personally appear in court and give specific consent to the criminal provisions of the protective order being dismissed, or you must do so in a sworn affidavit.²

However, the court can dismiss a protective order after one year without your consent if the judge finds that all of the following are true:

• the reason that the protective order was issued no longer exists;
• you have repeatedly acted in a way that goes against the terms of the protective order, trying to intentionally or knowingly try to cause the respondent to violate the protective order;
• your actions show that you no longer have a reasonable fear of the respondent; and
• the abuser has not been convicted of a protective order violation or any crime of violence since the order was issued and there are no unresolved charges involving violent conduct still on file with the court.³

Note: Make sure you inform the court of your new address if you move so you can be sure to receive notice of any hearing.

¹ UT ST § 78B-7-603(10), (12)
² UT ST §§ 78B-7-603(10); 78B-7-605(1)
³ UT ST §§ 78B-7-105(6)(c); 78B-7-605(1)

If a divorce proceeding is pending between parties to a protective order action, the protective order will be dismissed when the court issues a decree of divorce if:

• the respondent (abuser) files a motion to dismiss the protective order in both the divorce action and the protective order action (and you are personally served with both); and
• either of the following happen:
  
  • both you and the abuser agree, in writing or orally, during the divorce case to dismiss the protective order; or
  • based on evidence at the divorce trial, the judge determines that you no longer have a “reasonable fear of future harm, abuse, or domestic violence.”¹

¹ UT ST § 78B-7-605(3)