Civil Protection Order

Alexis explains: "a criminal protection order is not something you have to seek out so if you are um charged with a criminal offense usually a domestic violence charge um the protection order automatically enters against you by the criminal courts now that you don't have any say over you can sometimes get it modified but that one is going to enter no matter no matter what happens it's called an mpo or a mandatory protection order"

Alexis explains: "A criminal protection order only goes away after the entire case is closed. A civil protection order never goes away if it's granted as permanent, unless the people in that protection order, one of them asks to readdress the protection order."

Alexis explains: "an emergency protective order just in regular i say regular but in legal terms that actually is referring to protection orders generally in family law cases so you can get protection orders in criminal cases those are mpos or mandatory protection orders um you can get protection orders by filing them that's a civil protection order or a tpo or ppo and then the epos because we like to have acronyms for everything the emergency protection orders normally are seen in family law cases now we are not a family law firm we are not experts in family law we do have some good resources for that if you're interested in that information but just as a general rule an emergency protective order is normally seen usually in relation to custody issues where if one parent is trying to leave with the kids and the other parent doesn't want them to they can file an emergency protection order saying we need to have this address right now they can't leave the state with my kids"

Alexis explains: "And the cops will then go and charge them with, not one, but two criminal offenses. Because if you violate a mandatory protection order on the criminal side, violation of that protection is a Class 1 misdemeanor. If you violate a civil protection order, it is a Class 2 misdemeanor, and they are separate offenses."

Alexis explains: "For example, and I have my client's permission to talk about this, I had a case very, very recently where my client was charged with domestic violence and had a multitude of domestic violence charges leveraged against them."

Alexis explains: "I went to court for the civil protection order hearing, and I showed the judge because the burden of proof is lower in a civil protection order hearing as to whether or not they grant that permanent order. I showed the judge all the ways this other person's story did not make sense. It didn't hold up. And I pointed out all the holes in their credibility and the flat out lies."

Alexis explains: "If my client in this situation were to respond, even if they responded, no, I can't talk to you, in a text message, verbally, or over the phone. Under the law, that person could then report to the police department, that my client violated two protection orders."

Alexis explains: "In other words, a civil protection order is generally thought of as being a lifetime protection. There are ways to get a civil protection order lifted, but usually the person who has asked for the protection order has to ask for it to be removed. And there are a couple of waiting periods of a number of years that you have to wait before that can even happen."

Alexis explains: "now, not only has one criminal case but three."

Alexis explains: "Now, the other thing to know is someone can have both a criminal protection order and a civil protection order against them at the same time from the same incident from the same victim. We see it all the time. It doesn't do anything to the criminal case, but there are some things to consider where if If are being charged with a criminal charge and your victim is then trying to file a civil protection order against you, you have the right to defend yourself in both cases, but anything you say in one case can be used in the other case."

Alexis explains: "Or more often than not, the alleged victim is trying to get the other person to reach out to them, so they'll have more charges put against them."

Alexis explains: "so it is possible to have two protection orders issued against you so you can have the criminal protection order so if you're charged for a domestic violence case and you're put into jail and you're going through the criminal court system you have that mandatory protection order on you from the criminal side but then a victim in a case can also file a civil protection order or request a temporary protection order and then get that protection order made permanent so a person can have two different protection orders for the same thing"

Alexis explains: "So, a civil protection order is very different from a criminal protection order. Because, one, you have to actually as a petitioner in the case, you have to file for a civil protection order. So, civil protection orders are put in place for individuals who are victims of domestic violence. For today's purposes, we're talking about domestic violence, but you can get a civil protection order for anyone. It has to be a showing that you feel that you are in imminent danger, that there has been some history of either physical or mental abuse or threats."

Alexis explains: "So, if this was not an amicable relationship and if the wife was very upset about this and wanted to further take out a protection order against her husband to last a lifetime, she could file for what's called a civil protection order. Now, the difference between the two is a civil protection order has to be actively sought by the person looking for a protection under that protection order. It is not mandatorily issued like with a criminal charge."

Alexis explains: "So, the terms that lawyers use are in a criminal case, there's what's called an MPO. It's a mandatory protection order. And in a civil case, there's a TPO, which then turns into a CPO, which is a temporary protection order which is then transferred into a civil protection order or a permanent protection order. Now, these are handled by different judges, they're handled by different courts, and there's different processes for getting this done."

Alexis explains: "the big thing to keep in mind is on protection orders there are two different kinds of protection orders one is a civil protection order and one is a criminal protection order"

Alexis explains: "The other thing to be aware of is whether you have a criminal protection order from a criminal case or a civil protection order, you can still be charged with a crime if you violate either of them. Under the current law here in 2022, a a violation of a criminal protection order results in a class one misdemeanor, which is the same level as an assault. So, you will get another charge writing up against you if you violate that criminal protection order. On a civil protection order, it a a violation of that civil protection order results in a class two misdemeanor. So, it's still a notch down, but it's still a criminal offense."

Alexis explains: "then they there is a hearing to determine whether or not that temporary protection order needs to be made permanent and in civil cases a civil protection order can be made permanent for a lifetime whereas a criminal protection order like we talked about before um those only last for the duration of the criminal case but a civil one can last forever"

Alexis explains: "there are two different types of protection orders. A criminal one and a civil one. If you violate the civil one, it is a Class 2 criminal misdemeanor. If you violate the criminal one, it is a Class 1 criminal misdemeanor. Both of them can be issued for the same incident."

Alexis explains: "What happens is, any person who is seeking a civil protection order, must go file for a protection order themselves. It is not something that is automatically done. Conversely, in the criminal realm, when you are charged with a domestic violence offense, even if you're not convicted, as soon as you are charged and put into the system, there is then a mandatory protection order entered on your case."

Alexis explains: "What is the difference between a protection order in a DV case versus what we think of as a restraining order? So, being lawyers, we like to have acronyms for everything. You'll hear it called a CPO, a civil protection order, an MPO, a mandatory protection order. Some people will call it an RO, which is just a restraining order. But, fundamentally, there are two key differences between criminal protection orders and civil protection orders."

Alexis explains: "when you're facing criminal charges shut up keep your mouth shut at all times everywhere and let your lawyer do all the talking for you"

Alexis explains: "you have the right to defend yourself in both cases, but anything you say in one case can be used in the other case."