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Know the Laws: Oregon

UPDATED February 16, 2009

Restraining Orders to Prevent Abuse

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A Restraining Order is a civil order that provides protection from harm by a family or household member.

Basic Information

back to topWhat are restraining orders?

A restraining order is a court order that is designed to stop violent and harassing behavior and to protect you and your family from the abuser.

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back to topWhat is the legal definition of domestic abuse in OR?

This section defines domestic abuse for the purposes of getting a restraining order.

Domestic abuse is when a family or household member:

  • Attempts to hurt you physically
  • Actually hurts you physically (intentionally, recklessly or knowingly)
  • Intimidates or makes you afraid of serious physical injury (intentionally, recklessly or knowingly)
  • Makes you have sex against your will by force, or threat of force.*
“Family or household member” means any of the following:
  • a current or former spouse;
  • an adult related by blood, marriage or adoption;
  • someone you are living with or have lived with in the past;
  • someone you have been in a sexually intimate relationship with, within two years immediately preceding the filing of a restraining order petition under; or
  • someone you had a child with.**
* O.R.S. § 107.705(1)
** O.R.S. § 107.705(3)

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back to topHow can a restraining order protect me?

A restraining order can order the abuser to:

  • Stop abusing, threatening, or interfering with you and any children in your custody;
  • Stay away from your home, school, place of business, or other specified place;
  • Leave your home (if you live together);
  • Remove personal belongings from the home while police stand guard;
  • Have no contact with you in person, by mail, or by phone;
  • Pay you emergency financial assistance.*
A restraining order can also:
  • Give you temporary legal custody of your children;
  • Give the abuser temporary custody (if you request this) dependent upon certain conditions to protect the children;
  • Allow you visitation rights to your children if the abuser has custody;
  • Give you any other relief that the judge considers necessary to make sure that you and your children are safe.*
Whether a judge orders any or all of the above depends on the facts of your case.

* O.R.S. § 107.718(1)

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back to topIn which county can I file for a restraining order?

You can file a petition in the county where you live, or in the county where the abuser lives.*

* O.R.S. § 107.728

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