Restraining Orders

You may want to talk to an attorney about the fact that this person is contacting you to find out if there is anything that you can/should do to try to protect yourself from being accused of violating the order. In general, all of the prohibitions in order such as “no contact,” staying away from the petitioner, etc. generally apply to the respondent, not the petitioner. The respondent can be at risk of arrest if s/he does any of the behaviors prohibited in the order. However, if the petitioner is initiating contact with the respondent, the respondent may want to talk to an attorney to see what can be done. For example, a respondent may want to ask an attorney if it may be possible to file something in court to ask that the order be dismissed based on the contact. Or if there is a court date coming up for a final order, a respondent can ask a lawyer whether or not entering evidence of the petitioner’s behavior may help to prove that the petitioner is not “afraid” of the respondent and whether it can help get the order dismissed. Similarly, if the petitioner is using the order, and the possibility of arrest, to harass the respondent, this too can be something to ask a lawyer about to figure out if it’s possible to try to get the order dismissed.

In general, however, respondents must be careful before revealing in court that s/he spoke with the petitioner or violated any provision of the order for fear of admitting that s/he violated the order. In general, whether or not the person with the restraining order is the one who contacts the respondent, the respondent could be the one in violation of the order if s/he responds to the contact or tries to contact the petitioner back. This again is something that a respondent would want to get legal advice about before admitting this in court.

To get legal advice in your situation, here is a link for lawyers, free (if you qualify) and paid: LINK

In addition, when a petitioner initiates contact, there are some states where the petitioner could be charged with aiding and abetting a violation of a protection order but I don’t know if there is any similar law in your state. However, I am not sure if this only comes into play when the respondent is actually arrested or not - I don’t know. You may want to ask a lawyer in your state to be sure if there is or isn’t a law against the petitioner’s behavior in your case.

Also, you may also choose to ask an attorney if there is any way to try to protect yourself from these actions of the petitioner, which can put you at risk for arrest – you can ask an attorney, perhaps, if you should try to record the conversations, save emails or texts, etc. or if there is anything else you can do to try to protect yourself in case the petitioner claims you violated the order.