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EspañolWhat is a personal safety order? What acts of abuse can be the reason to get an order?
A personal safety order is a civil court order that can protect you from an abuser if you are a victim of:
- a sexual offense or attempted sexual offense;
- stalking; or
- repeated credible threats of bodily injury.1
You do not need to have a specific relationship with the abuser to file for a personal safety order. 2 In fact, if the abuser is a family or household member or someone with whom you have/had an intimate relationship, you would file for a domestic violence protective order instead of a personal safety order.3
1 W. Va. Code § 53-8-4(a)
2 W. Va. Code § 53-8-1(7)
3 See West Virginia Legal Aid, Personal Safety Orders in West Virginia
What is the legal definition of stalking?
Stalking is when someone repeatedly behaves in a way, or causes another person to behave in a way, that s/he knows, or should know, will cause you to:
- fear for your safety;
- fear for the safety of others; or
- suffer significant emotional distress.1
This behavior (course of conduct) includes when the stalker, directly or indirectly:
- follows, monitors, observes, surveils, or threatens you;
- contacts or communicates with you without your agreement (consent), including electronically; or
- interferes with or damages your property or pet.
1 W. Va. Code §§ 53-8-4(a)(2); 61-2-9a(a)
2 W. Va. Code § 61-2-9a(h)(2)
What is the legal definition of a sexual offense or an attempted sexual offense?
For the purpose of getting a personal safety order, the abuser would have to commit or attempt to commit one of following sexual offenses:
- indecent exposure;
- incest;
- distribution and display to minor of obscene matter;
- use of obscene matter with intent to seduce minor;
- employment or use of minor to produce obscene matter or assist in doing sexually explicit conduct;
- sexual assault in the first degree;
- sexual assault in the second degree;
- sexual assault in the third degree;
- sexual abuse in the first degree;
- sexual abuse in the second degree;
- sexual abuse in the third degree;
- use of minors in filming sexually explicit conduct prohibited;
- distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct prohibited;
- female genital mutilation;
- sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust to a child; parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust allowing sexual abuse to be inflicted upon a child; displaying of sex organs by a parent, guardian, or custodian;
- sending, distributing, exhibiting, possessing, displaying or transporting material by a parent, guardian or custodian depicting a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.1
1 W. Va. Code §§ 53-8-4(a)(1); 61-8-9; 61-8-12; 61-8a-2; 61-8a-4; 61-8a-5; 61-8b-3 through 61-8b-9; 61-8c-2; 61-8c-3; 61-8d-3a; 61-8d-5; 61-8d-6
What types of personal safety orders are there? How long do they last?
There are two types of personal safety orders: temporary ex parte orders and final orders (issued after notice and the opportunity to participate in a hearing).
Temporary ex parte personal safety orders
When you file a petition for a personal safety order, you can ask for a temporary ex parte personal safety order to be issued immediately. The judge can grant you a temporary order if s/he has reasonable cause to believe that the respondent has committed a specific act of abuse against you. The judge will schedule the hearing for your final order within ten days of service of the order.1
Final personal safety orders
After the respondent has been served with notice of the case and has had an opportunity to participate in the court hearing, the judge can grant a final personal safety order. The judge can grant you a final personal safety order if the judge finds that the abuser:
- committed a sexual offense or attempted sexual offense;
- stalked you; or
- repeatedly threatened you with bodily injury and knows (or should know) that these threats would cause you to reasonably fear for your safety.2
A final personal safety order can last for up to two years.2
1 W. Va. Code § 53-8-5(c)(1)
2 W. Va. Code §§ 53-8-6(C); 53-8-4(a)
What protections can I get in a personal safety order?
In a personal safety order, the judge can order that the abuser (respondent):
- not commit stalking, a sexual offense, or repeated threats of credible threats of bodily injury against you;
- not threaten to commit stalking, a sexual offense, or repeated threats of credible threats of bodily injury against you;
- not contact, attempt to contact, or harass you, either directly or indirectly or through third parties (even if the third parties do not know about the order);
- not enter your home;
- stay away from your work, school, or home;
- not visit, assault, molest (bother) or otherwise interfere with you; (Note: If the petitioner is a child, the judge can also order the abuser to stay away from the child’s siblings and other minors who live in the same household as the petitioner); and
- not have a firearm if:
- a weapon was used or threatened to be used when the respondent committed the act that caused you to request an order;
- the respondent has violated a previous personal safety order; or
- the respondent has been convicted of an offense involving the use of a firearm.1
1 W. Va. Code §§ 53-8-5(2); 53-8-7(d)
If the abuser lives in a different state, can I still get an order against him/her?
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
