Restraining Orders

Utah recognizes abuse and domestic violence as reasons to issue a cohabitant abuse protective order.

Abuse is defined as when a “cohabitant” does any of the following things:

• purposely causes you physical harm;
• tries to cause you physical harm; or
• makes you afraid that you will be immediately (imminently) physically harmed.¹

Domestic violence is defined as when a cohabitant does any of the following:

• threatens to commit or commits any criminal offense involving violence or physical harm;
• makes any attempt, conspiracy, or request (“solicitation”) to commit a criminal offense involving violence or physical harm; or
• commits or attempts to commit any of the following offenses against you:
  • assault or aggravated assault;
  • criminal homicide;
  • harassment;
  • electronic communication harassment;
  • unlawful electronic disclosure of personal identifying information;
  • unlawful electronic disclosure of a minor’s personal information;
  • kidnapping, child kidnapping, or aggravated kidnapping;
  • mayhem;
  • propelling a bodily substance or material;
  • sexual offenses, including rape, forcible sodomy,  and many others that you can find listed under “Title 76, Chapter 5, Part 4” on the Utah State Legislature website;
  • sexual exploitation of a minor or aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor;
  • stalking;
  • unlawful detention or unlawful detention of a minor;
  • violation of a protective order or ex parte protective order;
  • any offense against property, including robbery, burglary, criminal trespass, and many others that you can find under “Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3” on the Utah State Legislature website;
  • threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel;
  • possession of a dangerous weapon with criminal intent;
  • improper discharging of a dangerous weapon;
  • disorderly conduct, but only if the abuser was originally charged with one of the domestic violence crimes on this list and then a plea agreement reduced the charge to disorderly conduct;
  • commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, which is referred to in the law as “child abuse”;
  • threatening violence;
  • tampering with a witness;
  • retaliation against a witness or victim;
  • receiving or soliciting a bribe as a witness;
  • unlawful distribution of an intimate image;
  • unlawful distribution of a counterfeit intimate image;
  • voyeurism, including recorded or photographed voyeurism and distribution of images obtained through voyeurism;
  • damage to or interruption of a communication device;
  • aggravated cruelty to an animal, with the intent to harass or threaten you; or
  • an offense described in section 78b-7-806(1) of the law.²

However, domestic violence does not include any of the following crimes:

• enticing a minor;
• lewdness; or
• lewdness involving a child.³ 

If you do not meet these requirements, there may be another type of order that applies to your situation. See I did not get a protective order. What can I do? for more information.

¹ Utah Code § 78B-7-102(1)
² Utah Code §§ 78B-7-102(15); 77-36-1(4)(a), (b)
³ Utah Code § 77-36-1(4)(c)