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Legal Information: Ohio

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
July 12, 2023

What kinds of protection orders are there in Ohio? How long do they last?

There are two kinds of protection orders in Ohio. A temporary ex parte protection order can be granted the same day you file your petition in order to give you immediate protection from the abuser. The judge can grant the ex parte order if there is “good cause” to do so. Immediate danger of domestic violence or dating violence can count as good cause to grant a temporary ex parte order, which includes, but is not limited to:

  1. situations in which the respondent has threatened you with bodily harm or a sexually oriented offense; or
  2. a situation in which the respondent previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a domestic violence crime against you (including a juvenile adjudication for a domestic violence crime).1

An ex parte order will last until the hearing for your civil protection order, which generally takes places within seven to ten days.2

A civil protection order (CPO) can be issued after a hearing is held where the abuser has the opportunity to appear in court (even if s/he chooses not to appear). A CPO can last up to five years but if the respondent (abuser) is under age 18 when the order is issued against him/her, the order can only last until s/he turns 19 (unless it is renewed/extended).3 However, if the CPO includes a provision for temporary custody/visitation and/or an order of support, those terms may end earlier than the five years if either parent files for divorce, legal separation, or allocation of parental rights and responsibilities and a judge in that court case makes an order for custody/visitation or support.4

1 Ohio Rev. Code § 3113.31(D)(1)
2 Ohio Rev. Code § 3113.31(D)(2)
3 Ohio Rev. Code § 3113.31(E)(3)(a), (E)(3)(c)