On January 11, 2023, Chief Justice Loretta Rush reported in her State of the Judiciary to the Indiana legislature that there were 36,000 pending new Protection Orders in our courts. In today’s blog we discuss a basic introduction to the Protection Order process, and the due process that you should receive as either a person petitioning the court for protection, or the person whose freedom is being restrained by the order.
The Act is intended to ensure the “prevention of future domestic violence, family violence and harassment” ….. in a “fair, prompt, and effective manner.” However, with an excess of over 2.5 million cases pending in our legal system, courts are often forced to rely on limited resources even when addressing such crucial matters; this can unfortunately harm your rights and freedoms. It is critical that you take appropriate steps to hold the courts accountable to you and your rights when facing the challenges of the legal system. This begins with quick action and contacting an attorney to understand the challenges in the Protection Order system.
Protection Orders (often called “restraining orders”) are filed under the Indiana Civil Protection Act and are available for situations involving domestic or family violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, or child sex grooming. The Act offers victims of such mistreatment legal protection through a Protection Order – commonly called a “Restraining Order.” A restraining order is a court-imposed restriction on the conduct of a private citizen. You may be asking, “what do protection orders do?” This will outline exactly what a protection order does and how you can go about establishing one.
In legal terminology the person asking to be protected is the “Petitioner” and the person being restrained is the “respondent.” The Act allows one private citizen to ask the court to restrain another private citizen. (This is different than a No Contact Order, which is issued by the court at the request of the State of Indiana in a criminal case.)
These orders – which can be filled out by you or with the assistance of an attorney – are part of a statewide standardized process. Every court in the State is required to use the same forms and issue the same format of orders, in an attempt to uniformly – and fairly – address reports of violence and harassment.
Unlike a criminal charge, a Protection Order does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt; the standard for proving the necessity of a protection order is much, much lower. It is also subject to the discretion of the individual judicial officer (Judge, magistrate, commissioner or judge pro temporare) responsible for issuing the order. This can result in very different outcomes across the state, depending on which judicial officer hears the case. Due to this variation, it is hard to be able to say without a doubt if a protection order would be granted or not.
This restraint can take many forms – including evicting a person from their residence, prohibiting contact between the parties, transferring cell phone numbers from one person to another, modifying child custody agreements and even require you to pay the other person’s attorney fees.
If you are in need of a Protection Order as a petitioner – or have been served a Protection Order as the respondent – it is critical you understand the time frames and hearing process. While the court may issue an ex parte order – a temporary restraining order issued by the court after only hearing one side of the story – the court must offer a hearing on the order within thirty (30) days upon request. If you miss this window the order may be made permanent by the court for up to two (2) years. It is crucial that you understand and recognize these rules as either the Petitioner or Respondent. Do not delay seeking legal help if you are struggling with the process. Our attorneys have invested thousands of hours in the courtroom and hearing process of Indiana’s courts and we are here to help you through this process.
Important links:
https://www.in.gov/courts/iocs/files/pubs-trial-court-protection-orders.pdf – An overview of the Protection Order process and Protection Order Registry published by the Indiana Office of Judicial Administration’s Indiana Office of Court Services (IOCS)]; this provides detailed information on who may apply for a Protection Order, the actions a court may take and the statutory protections included in the system.
https://www.in.gov/courts/iocs/publications/po-forms/ – The mandatory Protection Order Act forms provided by the State of Indiana
https://www.in.gov/courts/admin/tech/protection-order/ – Overview of the Protection Order process
