Restraining Orders

[INCLUDE THIS IF SHE SAYS SHE JUST ARRIVED IN HER CURRENT STATE: In the majority of states, there is no specific amount of time that a person must live in the state in order to file there.] When an abuser (“respondent”) lives in another state from the victim, there may be some issues regarding whether or not the court in the victim’s state can issue an order against the respondent. The main issue is generally whether or not the judge has what is called “personal jurisdiction” (power) over the non-resident abuser. One way that a court can have personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state respondent is if the respondent has “significant contacts” in the state where the petition is filed – for example, perhaps the abuser visited the victim in the state or traveled there for business trips. Another way that a court can get personal jurisdiction is if one of the acts of violence or harassment occurred in the petitioner’s state. For example, if an abuser sends a threatening text or phone call from State A and the victim reads/receives the message or call in State B, it is possible that this meets the requirement that the threat/harassment “happened” in State B so that an order can be granted.

However, even if the abuser does not have significant contacts in the petitioner’s state and no abuse “happened” in the state where s/he is filing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the petitioner won’t be granted an order. Often times, a petitioner may be granted an order even when the respondent lives in another state because the respondent will agree (consent) to the order or because the judge will find other circumstances that allow the order to be granted. You can read more about personal jurisdiction as it relates to court cases filed against someone in another state on our Court System Basics - Personal Jurisdiction page.

If you decide to file for an order in your state, here is some information about what a person has to prove to get a restraining order in FILL IN NEW STATE [HYPERLINK TO GROUNDS QUESTION (WHAT IS DV?) regardless of where the respondent lives. [NOTE: PLEASE ONLY INCLUDE THIS NEXT SENTENCE IF IT ISN’T CLEAR IF SHE’D QUALIFY RELATIONSHIP-WISE BEC WE DON’T KNOW THEIR RELATIONSHIP OR THEY AREN’T PARTNERS And here are the relationship requirements [HYPER LINK TO ELIGIBILITY QUESTION (WHO CAN GET AN RO?)] that a person has to prove to get an order.

[ADD THIS PARAGRAPH IF SHE SPECIFICALLY ASKS ABOUT FILING IN THE STATE WHERE THE ABUSER LIVES: Someone interested in filing a restraining order in a state where the abuser lives instead of the state where the victim lives may wish to consider the fact that for most restraining order petitions, the petitioner needs to apply in person and come to court for various court dates. This may be hard for someone who is filing in a state other than where s/he lives.]

One other point to consider is that in general, serving a protection order may be more difficult when the respondent is in a different state. Law enforcement who serve petitions in the petitioner’s state may not go to a different state to serve the petition. It’s possible that, if requested, law enforcement may send the petition to the other state’s law enforcement for service though. Alternatively, the petitioner may have to contact the local sheriff department in the respondent’s state to ask them about serving the order and about their requirements for getting the order sent to them. Here is a link to sheriff departments in [ABUSER’S STATE] [HYPERLINK] in case you decide to inquire with them about possible service of an out of state order.

Also, you may be able to find out some information from your local courthouse as to whether or not they would help with service of an order in a different state - here is the courthouse contact information [HYPERLINK] for your state.

[INCLUDE THIS ONLY IF SHE ASKS ABOUT SERVING THE ORDER: If the sheriff in the respondent’s state won’t serve an out of state restraining order for some reason, sometimes a petitioner can get anyone over 18 to serve it or a professional process server in the respondent’s state and pay to have it served – however, I don’t know if your state has any laws about whether only law enforcement can serve restraining orders or if anyone can do it. Perhaps you may want to ask the judge or the court clerk about the rules for service. Either way, in most states, whoever serves an order generally has to fill out some sort of affidavit of service and return that it the petitioner or in some states, directly to the court – often the petitioner has to be diligent about following up to get it back and to make sure it is filled out and filed with the court. This document is important in case the respondent doesn’t show up in court for the hearing about whether there are grounds for a permanent restraining order – it can act as proof that s/he was served.
As mentioned previously, you may wish to speak with a lawyer since these are complicated legal issues.]

For legal advice, you can find a list of legal organizations in [VICTIM’S STATE] on our Finding a Lawyer page. [HYPERLINK BOLD]

I also want to mention that during Covid and beyond, many states are allowing online filing and online court appearances. Therefore, if you are not able to get an order in your current state, you may want to call the courthouse in the state where the abuser lives [HYPERLINK] to see if you can file a protection order [HYPERLINK to RO in abuser’s state] petition online and “appear” in court online as well. Protection orders are valid and enforceable between all 50 states so an order that is issued in another state can be enforced in your state as well.