Restraining Orders

Usually, unless the respondent also has an order against the petitioner, the petitioner cannot legally violate his/her own order of protection, although there are exceptions to this general rule – for example, in Iowa, the petition for a protective order says that a petitioner “could be arrested and jailed for aiding and abetting Defendant’s violation of the Protective Order.” All of the stuff that the order says - like no contact, staying out of the home, etc. - generally applies to the respondent, not the petitioner. Protection orders are designed to prohibit a respondent from doing certain things, not the petitioner. However, if a petitioner contacts a respondent, this could put the respondent in danger of being arrested for violating the order if s/he responds to the petitioner’s contact. In addition, 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. You may want to ask a lawyer in your state to be sure if there is or isn’t a law against a petitioner contacting a respondent. Here is a link for lawyers, some of which are free or low-cost if you want advice:LINK

As I mentioned above, in general, whether or not the petitioner contacted the defendant first, the defendant could be the one in violation of the order if s/he responds to the contact or tries to contact him/her back. Also, a respondent may use the fact that the petitioner has contacted the respondent against him/her in court to prove that the petitioner is not afraid of the respondent and that the order is not needed, etc.