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Legal Information: Ohio

Statutes: Ohio

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Updated: 
October 1, 2024

2919.26 Temporary protection orders

(A)(1) Upon the filing of a complaint or indictment that alleges a violation of section 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.12, or 2911.211 of the Revised Code if the alleged victim of the violation was a family or household member at the time of the violation, a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any of those sections if the alleged victim of the violation was a family or household member at the time of the violation, any offense of violence if the alleged victim of the offense was a family or household member at the time of the commission of the offense, or any sexually oriented offense if the alleged victim of the offense was a family or household member at the time of the commission of the offense, the complainant, the alleged victim, or a family or household member of an alleged victim may file, or, if in an emergency the alleged victim is unable to file, a person who made an arrest for the alleged violation or offense under section 2935.03 of the Revised Code may file on behalf of the alleged victim, a motion that requests the issuance of a temporary protection order as a pretrial condition of release of the alleged offender, in addition to any bail set under Criminal Rule 46. The motion shall be filed with the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction of the case at any time after the filing of the complaint or indictment.
 

(2) For purposes of section 2930.09 of the Revised Code, all stages of a proceeding arising out of a complaint or indictment alleging the commission of a violation, offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense described in division (A)(1) of this section, including all proceedings on a motion for a temporary protection order, are critical stages of the case, and a victim may be accompanied by a victim advocate or another person to provide support to the victim as provided in that section.
 

(B) The motion shall be prepared on a form that is provided by the clerk of the court, which form shall be substantially as follows:
 

“MOTION FOR TEMPORARY PROTECTION ORDER
 

__________________________ Court
 

Name and address of court
 

State of Ohio
 
                    
                    

v.
 
            No.    
 
    
                

                
Name of Defendant
 
                

(name of person), moves the court to issue a temporary protection order containing terms designed to ensure the safety and protection of the complainant, alleged victim, and other family or household members, in relation to the named defendant, pursuant to its authority to issue such an order under section 2919.26 of the Revised Code.
 

A complaint or indictment, a copy of which has been attached to this motion, has been filed in this court charging the named defendant with __________________________ (name of the specified violation, the offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense charged) in circumstances in which the victim was a family or household member in violation of (section of the Revised Code designating the specified violation, offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense charged), or charging the named defendant with a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to ________________________ (section of the Revised Code designating the specified violation, offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense charged) involving a family or household member.
 

I understand that I must appear before the court, at a time set by the court within twenty-four hours after the filing of this motion, for a hearing on the motion or that, if I am unable to appear because of hospitalization or a medical condition resulting from the offense alleged in the complaint or indictment, a person who can provide information about my need for a temporary protection order must appear before the court in lieu of my appearing in court. I understand that any temporary protection order granted pursuant to this motion is a pretrial condition of release and is effective only until the disposition of the criminal proceeding arising out of the attached complaint or indictment, or the issuance of a civil protection order or the approval of a consent agreement, arising out of the same activities as those that were the basis of the complaint or indictment, under section 3113.31 of the Revised Code.
 

__________________________________________
 

Signature of person
 

(or signature of the arresting officer who filed the motion on behalf of the alleged victim)
 

__________________________________________
 

Address of person (or office address of the arresting officer who filed the motion on behalf of the alleged victim)”
 

(C)(1) As soon as possible after the filing of a motion that requests the issuance of a temporary protection order, but not later than twenty-four hours after the filing of the motion, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine whether to issue the order. The person who requested the order shall appear before the court and provide the court with the information that it requests concerning the basis of the motion. If the person who requested the order is unable to appear and if the court finds that the failure to appear is because of the person’s hospitalization or medical condition resulting from the offense alleged in the complaint or indictment, another person who is able to provide the court with the information it requests may appear in lieu of the person who requested the order. If the court finds that the safety and protection of the complainant, alleged victim, or any other family or household member of the alleged victim may be impaired by the continued presence of the alleged offender, the court may issue a temporary protection order, as a pretrial condition of release, that contains terms designed to ensure the safety and protection of the complainant, alleged victim, or the family or household member, including a requirement that the alleged offender refrain from entering the residence, school, business, or place of employment of the complainant, alleged victim, or the family or household member. The court may include within a protection order issued under this section a term requiring that the alleged offender not remove, damage, hide, harm, or dispose of any companion animal owned or possessed by the complainant, alleged victim, or any other family or household member of the alleged victim, and may include within the order a term authorizing the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member of the alleged victim to remove a companion animal owned by the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member from the possession of the alleged offender.
 

(2)(a) If the court issues a temporary protection order that includes a requirement that the alleged offender refrain from entering the residence, school, business, or place of employment of the complainant, the alleged victim, or the family or household member, the order shall state clearly that the order cannot be waived or nullified by an invitation to the alleged offender from the complainant, alleged victim, or family or household member to enter the residence, school, business, or place of employment or by the alleged offender’s entry into one of those places otherwise upon the consent of the complainant, alleged victim, or family or household member.
 

(b) Division (C)(2)(a) of this section does not limit any discretion of a court to determine that an alleged offender charged with a violation of section 2919.27 of the Revised Code, with a violation of a municipal ordinance substantially equivalent to that section, or with contempt of court, which charge is based on an alleged violation of a temporary protection order issued under this section, did not commit the violation or was not in contempt of court.
 

(D)(1) Upon the filing of a complaint or indictment that alleges a violation of section 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.12, or 2911.211 of the Revised Code if the alleged victim of the violation was a family or household member at the time of the violation, a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any of those sections if the alleged victim of the violation was a family or household member at the time of the violation, any offense of violence if the alleged victim of the offense was a family or household member at the time of the commission of the offense, or any sexually oriented offense if the alleged victim of the offense was a family or household member at the time of the commission of the offense, the court, upon its own motion, may issue a temporary protection order as a pretrial condition of release if it finds that the safety and protection of the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member of the alleged offender may be impaired by the continued presence of the alleged offender.
 

(2) If the court issues a temporary protection order under this section as an ex parte order, it shall conduct, as soon as possible after the issuance of the order, a hearing in the presence of the alleged offender not later than the next day on which the court is scheduled to conduct business after the day on which the alleged offender was arrested or at the time of the appearance of the alleged offender pursuant to summons to determine whether the order should remain in effect, be modified, or be revoked. The hearing shall be conducted under the standards set forth in division (C) of this section.
 

(3) An order issued under this section shall contain only those terms authorized in orders issued under division (C) of this section.
 

(4) If a municipal court or a county court issues a temporary protection order under this section and if, subsequent to the issuance of the order, the alleged offender who is the subject of the order is bound over to the court of common pleas for prosecution of a felony arising out of the same activities as those that were the basis of the complaint upon which the order is based, notwithstanding the fact that the order was issued by a municipal court or county court, the order shall remain in effect, as though it were an order of the court of common pleas, while the charges against the alleged offender are pending in the court of common pleas, for the period of time described in division (E)(2) of this section, and the court of common pleas has exclusive jurisdiction to modify the order issued by the municipal court or county court. This division applies when the alleged offender is bound over to the court of common pleas as a result of the person waiving a preliminary hearing on the felony charge, as a result of the municipal court or county court having determined at a preliminary hearing that there is probable cause to believe that the felony has been committed and that the alleged offender committed it, as a result of the alleged offender having been indicted for the felony, or in any other manner.
 

(E) A temporary protection order that is issued as a pretrial condition of release under this section:
 

(1) Is in addition to, but shall not be construed as a part of, any bail set under Criminal Rule 46;
 

(2) Is effective only until the occurrence of either of the following:
 

(a) The disposition, by the court that issued the order or, in the circumstances described in division (D)(4) of this section, by the court of common pleas to which the alleged offender is bound over for prosecution, of the criminal proceeding arising out of the complaint or indictment upon which the order is based;
 

(b) The issuance of a protection order or the approval of a consent agreement, arising out of the same activities as those that were the basis of the complaint or indictment upon which the order is based, under section 3113.31 of the Revised Code.
 

(3) Shall not be construed as a finding that the alleged offender committed the alleged offense, and shall not be introduced as evidence of the commission of the offense at the trial of the alleged offender on the complaint or indictment upon which the order is based.
 

(F) A person who meets the criteria for bail under Criminal Rule 46 and who, if required to do so pursuant to that rule, executes or posts bond or deposits cash or securities as bail, shall not be held in custody pending a hearing before the court on a motion requesting a temporary protection order.
 

(G)(1) A copy of any temporary protection order that is issued under this section shall be issued by the court to the complainant, to the alleged victim, to the person who requested the order, to the defendant, and to all law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction to enforce the order. The court shall direct that a copy of the order be delivered to the defendant on the same day that the order is entered. If a municipal court or a county court issues a temporary protection order under this section and if, subsequent to the issuance of the order, the defendant who is the subject of the order is bound over to the court of common pleas for prosecution as described in division (D)(4) of this section, the municipal court or county court shall direct that a copy of the order be delivered to the court of common pleas to which the defendant is bound over.
 

(2) Upon the issuance of a protection order under this section, the court shall provide the parties to the order with the following notice orally or by form:
 

“NOTICE
 

As a result of this protection order, it may be unlawful for you to possess or purchase a firearm, including a rifle, pistol, or revolver, or ammunition pursuant to federal law under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) for the duration of this order. If you have any questions whether this law makes it illegal for you to possess or purchase a firearm or ammunition, you should consult an attorney.”
 

(3) All law enforcement agencies shall establish and maintain an index for the temporary protection orders delivered to the agencies pursuant to division (G)(1) of this section. With respect to each order delivered, each agency shall note on the index, the date and time of the receipt of the order by the agency.
 

(4) A complainant, alleged victim, or other person who obtains a temporary protection order under this section may provide notice of the issuance of the temporary protection order to the judicial and law enforcement officials in any county other than the county in which the order is issued by registering that order in the other county in accordance with division (N) of section 3113.31 of the Revised Code and filing a copy of the registered protection order with a law enforcement agency in the other county in accordance with that division.
 

(5) Any officer of a law enforcement agency shall enforce a temporary protection order issued by any court in this state in accordance with the provisions of the order, including removing the defendant from the premises, regardless of whether the order is registered in the county in which the officer’s agency has jurisdiction as authorized by division (G)(4) of this section.
 

(H) Upon a violation of a temporary protection order, the court may issue another temporary protection order, as a pretrial condition of release, that modifies the terms of the order that was violated.
 

(I)(1) As used in divisions (I)(1) and (2) of this section, “defendant” means a person who is alleged in a complaint or indictment to have committed a violation, offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense of the type described in division (A) of this section.
 

(2) If a complaint or indictment is filed that alleges that a person committed a violation, offense of violence, or sexually oriented offense of the type described in division (A) of this section, the court may not issue a temporary protection order under this section that requires the complainant, the alleged victim, or another family or household member of the defendant to do or refrain from doing an act that the court may require the defendant to do or refrain from doing under a temporary protection order unless both of the following apply:
 

(a) The defendant has filed a separate complaint that alleges that the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member in question who would be required under the order to do or refrain from doing the act committed a violation or offense of violence of the type described in division (A) of this section.
 

(b) The court determines that both the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member in question who would be required under the order to do or refrain from doing the act and the defendant acted primarily as aggressors, that neither the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member in question who would be required under the order to do or refrain from doing the act nor the defendant acted primarily in self-defense, and, in accordance with the standards and criteria of this section as applied in relation to the separate complaint filed by the defendant, that it should issue the order to require the complainant, alleged victim, or other family or household member in question to do or refrain from doing the act.
 

(J)(1) Subject to division (J)(2) of this section and regardless of whether a protection order is issued or a consent agreement is approved by a court of another county or a court of another state, no court or unit of state or local government shall charge the movant any fee, cost, deposit, or money in connection with the filing of a motion pursuant to this section, in connection with the filing, issuance, registration, modification, enforcement, dismissal, withdrawal, or service of a protection order, consent agreement, or witness subpoena or for obtaining a certified copy of a protection order or consent agreement.
 

(2) Regardless of whether a protection order is issued or a consent agreement is approved pursuant to this section, if the defendant is convicted the court may assess costs against the defendant in connection with the filing, issuance, registration, modification, enforcement, dismissal, withdrawal, or service of a protection order, consent agreement, or witness subpoena or for obtaining a certified copy of a protection order or consent agreement.
 

(K) As used in this section:
 

(1) “Companion animal” has the same meaning as in section 959.131 of the Revised Code.
 

(2) “Sexually oriented offense” has the same meaning as in section 2950.01 of the Revised Code.
 

(3) “Victim advocate” means a person who provides support and assistance for a victim of an offense during court proceedings.