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Legal Information: Indiana

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
November 14, 2023

Can I get my order for protection from Indiana enforced in another state?

If you have a valid Indiana order for protection that meets federal standards, it can be enforced in another state. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which is a federal law, states that all valid protection orders granted in the United States receive “full faith and credit” in all state and tribal courts within the US, including US territories.1 See How do I know if my protection order is good under federal law? to find out if your order for protection qualifies.

Each state must enforce out-of-state orders for protections in the same way it enforces its own orders. This means that if the abuser violates your out-of-state order for protection, s/he will be punished according to the laws of whatever state you are in when the order is violated just as s/he would be if s/he violated an order of protection issued by the state you are in. This is what is meant by “full faith and credit.”

1 18 U.S.C. § 2265