Restraining Orders

For the purpose of getting a protection from harassment order, Maine law defines “harassment” as:

• three or more acts of intimidation, confrontation, physical force, or threat of physical force that are:
  • directed against any person, family, or business;
  • made with the intention of causing fear, intimidation, or damage to property; and
  • actually causes fear, intimidation, or damage to property; or
• when the harasser commits a single act or a course of conduct that violates one of the following laws:
  1. stalking
  2. assault
  3. aggravated assault
  4. criminal threatening
  5. terrorizing
  6. reckless conduct
  7. gross sexual assault
  8. sexual abuse of minors
  9. unlawful sexual contact
  10. visual sexual aggression against a child
  11. sexual misconduct with a child under age 14
  12. solicitation of a child to commit a prohibited act
  13. solicitation of a child to engage in prostitution
  14. unlawful sexual touching
  15. prohibited contact with a minor
  16. sexual exploitation of a minor
  17. dissemination of sexually explicit material
  18. kidnapping
  19. criminal restraint
  20. criminal restraint by parent
  21. harassment
  22. harassment by telephone or electonic communication device
  23. unauthorized dissemination of certain private images
  24. incest
  25. arson
  26. violation of privacy
  27. criminal mischief
  28. aggravated criminal mischief
  29. aiding or soliciting suicide
  30. murder
  31. felony murder
  32. manslaughter
  33. violation of your constitutional rights
  34. sex trafficking
  35. aggravated sex trafficking or
  36. interfering with, oppressing or threatening any other person.¹

If you are being harassed by a current or former intimate partner, relative, or spouse, you may be eligible for a protection from abuse order. Please see our Protection from Abuse Orders page for more information.

¹ 5 M.R.S. § 4651(2)

A temporary, emergency, and a final protection from harassment order can give you the following protections:

• prohibit the harasser from threatening, assaulting, molesting, harassing, attacking, or abusing you or your employees;
• prohibit the harasser from entering your home or property (but a protection from harassment order cannot be used to evict a tenant);
• prohibit the harasser from taking, selling, destroying, or damaging your property;
• prohibit the harasser from following you repeatedly without cause;
• order the harasser to stay away from the area around your home, school, business, or place of employment (without good cause to be there);
• prohibit the harasser from having direct or indirect contact with you;
• prohibit the harasser from engaging in the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images; and
• prohibit the harasser from destroying, transferring or tampering with your passport or other immigration documents.¹

In addition, only a final protection from harassment order can:

• order the harasser to pay court costs and/or your reasonably attorney’s fees;
• order the defendant to remove, destroy or return any “private images” (as defined in the unauthorized dissemination of certain private images) and, if necessary, order the defendant to pay any costs associated with removal, destruction or return of the private images;
• order the harasser to reimburse you for money you lost as a direct result of the harassment. Reimbursement is limited to:
  • loss of earnings or support;
  • reasonable expenses you spent for safety/ protection;
  • reasonable expenses you had for personal injuries or property damage; and
  • reasonable moving expenses; and
• order the harasser to do anything else the court thinks is necessary and appropriate.²

Note: If you are going to be seeking the money damages described above, you can ask for a hearing where you can prove the amount of damages you suffered. If you choose, you can make a motion to the court to have the case moved to superior court so that you can have a jury trial on the money damages issue. To have a jury trial, you must make a motion before the hearing for the final protection from harassment order.³

However, if the judge finds that your complaint for a protection from harassment order is “frivolous,” s/he can order you to pay the harasser’s court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.⁴ Therefore, if you are really unsure as to whether your case qualifies as harassment, you might want to speak to an attorney before filing. You can go to our Maine Finding a Lawyer page for legal referrals.

¹ 5 M.R.S. §§ 4654(4); 4655(1)
² 5 M.R.S. § 4655(1)
³ 5 M.R.S. § 4655(1)(D)
⁴ 5 M.R.S. § 4655(1-A)

When you and the abuser live in different states, the judge may not have “personal jurisdiction” (power) over an out-of-state abuser. This means that the court may not be able to grant an order against him/her.

There are a few ways that a court can have personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state abuser:

1. The abuser has a substantial connection to your state. Perhaps the abuser regularly travels to your state to visit you, for business, to see extended family, or the abuser lived in your state and recently fled.
2. One of the acts of abuse “happened” in your state. Perhaps the abuser sends you threatening texts or harassing phone calls from another state but you read the messages or answer the calls while you are in your state. The judge could decide that the abuse “happened” to you while you were in your state. It may also be possible that the abuser was in your state when s/he abused you s/he but has since left the state.
3. If you file your petition and the abuser gets served with the court petition while s/he is in your state, this is another way for the court to get jurisdiction.

However, even if none of the above apply to your situation, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t get an order. If you file, you may be granted an order on consent or the judge may find other circumstances that allow the order to be granted.

You can read more about personal jurisdiction in our Court System Basics - Personal Jurisdiction section.

Note: If the judge in your state refuses to issue an order, you can file for an order in the courthouse in the state where the abuser lives. However, remember that you will likely need to file the petition in person and attend various court dates, which could be difficult if the abuser’s state is far away.