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Legal Information: Vermont

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
December 12, 2023

Step 3: A judge will review your application.

After you finish filling out your application, bring it to the court clerk. The clerk will forward it to a judge. The judge may wish to ask you questions as s/he reviews your petition. The judge will decide whether or not to issue the temporary order, and will set a date for a hearing for the final order. You will be given papers that state the time and date of your hearing for a permanent relief from abuse order. The hearing will take place within 14 days of your filing your complaint.1

When deciding whether to give you an order, a judge must believe that the defendant has abused you and/or your children and either:

  • there is a danger of further abuse; or
  • the abuser is currently incarcerated and has been convicted of one of the following:
    • murder;
    • attempted murder;
    • kidnapping;
    • domestic assault;
    • aggravated domestic assault;
    • sexual assault;
    • aggravated sexual assault;
    • stalking;
    • aggravated stalking;
    • lewd or lascivious conduct with child; or
    • use of a child in a sexual performance, or consenting to a sexual performance.2

1 VT ST 15 § 1104(b)
2 VT ST 15 § 1103(c)(1)