Criminal Charges / Crimes

Orders of protection are usually registered in a state registry so, perhaps you may want to consider whether you’d want to ask the police in the county where the crime occurred or where you live(d) if they can see if one exists for you. However, this may depend on getting a sympathetic police officer who is willing to do it as a favor since the police may not be obligated to do this - I am not sure.

Also, have you thought about going to the criminal court where the person was convicted to ask for access to the records to search for his case to see if the file indicates if an order was issued. Generally, criminal records may be open to the public. (However, although accessing the criminal file may let you see what crime he was convicted of, I don’t know if the records would indicate whether a restraining order was issued but they might.) Have you considered contacting the district attorney’s office who prosecuted the case and explaining the situation to ask if they can check their records to see if one was issued. Although the original DA may no longer be there, other DA’s in the unit may be able to access those files.

Another resource you might try is the Crime Victims Board [LOOK UP CONTACT INFO FOR THE ONE IN HER STATE] which offers Victim Assistance Programs in a number of counties and perhaps they may be able to help you determine if there was an order issued and if it is still valid. You can find a listing for programs in each county here: LINK

If you find that the order doesn’t exist or is no longer valid, you may want to ask an attorney whether you may be able to file for a civil order of protection in STATE based on the facts of your case (the crime and his pending release). You can read more about restraining orders and how to file for one here: LINK And, while you can file without a lawyer, if you want help from a lawyer, you can find a listing of lawyers in STATE here: LINK. One thing you may want to consider, however, is that if you file for one, he would be served and have the chance to come to court so he would know what county you are in.

Lastly, if he is getting out on parole (or any type of early release), there may be conditions of his parole that he cannot contact the victim of his crime. Perhaps you can decide if you’d want to try to reach the prison to see if he is being released on parole and if so, who his parole officer is – then maybe you can ask that person if that is a condition of his parole. I don’t know if the prison would tell you this but maybe working with a victim advocate through the Crime Victims Board may help figure that out.