Protection orders in the civil legal system

You can ask the court for a protection order if you live or recently lived in Washington state, and you are experiencing or have recently experienced domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking, or you’re seeking protection for a vulnerable adult.

Red flag law: If you’re afraid that an intimate partner, family, or household member may harm themselves or others with firearms, you can ask the court for an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO). Law enforcement can also file for an ERPO.

If you’re an adult (age 18 or older), you can protect:

• Yourself
• Children under age 18 (minor children) if you’re their parent, legal guardian, or custodian
• Another adult who is vulnerable or cannot otherwise file for themself. 

For domestic violence, you can also protect:

•  Minor children in your family or household, even if you’re not the parent, legal guardian, or custodian.
• Vulnerable adults in your family or household.

If you’re age 15 - 17, you can protect:

• Yourself
• Minor children in your family or household, if the minor chooses you to file on their behalf. You must be capable of pursuing what the minor says they want or need out of the case (their “stated interest”).

If you’re under age 15, someone must file for you.

You don’t need a lawyer to get a protection order. You can do it yourself or you can ask someone from a domestic violence shelter to help you. There’s no fee to file a protection order. 

You can ask for different kinds of protection orders based on the type of harm and how the parties know each other. The judge may give you a different type of protection order if you don’t qualify for your first choice.

We cover here these types of protection orders:

1. Domestic Violence

For protection from a current or former intimate partner, family member, or roommate who does any of these:

• Harms you physically, including sexual assault
• Causes you to fear immediate physical harm or assault
• Stalks you, including online (cyberstalking)
• Engages in behavior that causes you physical, emotional, or psychological harm, and unreasonably interferes with your free will and personal liberty (coercive control)

These are a few examples of "coercive control":

• Driving recklessly with you and/or the children in the vehicle to scare and force you to do what the person wants you to do over your own wishes
• Threatening to kill themselves if you don’t stay in the relationship with them
• Telling your friends and family that they are going to destroy your career or report you to immigration because you are ending the relationship
• Threatening to blackmail you

You can read the law to see more examples at RCW 7.105.010(37).

2. Harassment

For protection against someone whose behavior seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses you, with no legitimate purpose. 

3. Sexual Assault

For protection against someone who has raped you or engaged in any sexual conduct or penetration that you did not freely agree to (nonconsensual).

4. Stalking

For protection against someone who is committing criminal stalking or any repeated contacts or attempts to contact you, monitor you, track your whereabouts, keep you under observation, or follow you, if the behavior intimidates, scares or threatens you. 

Criminal stalking is when all these are true:

• Someone intentionally harasses or follows you.
• You have a reasonable fear that they want to hurt someone (it does not have to be you), or someone’s property (it does not have to be yours).
• The stalker knows or should know that they are frightening, intimidating, or harassing you.

If this describes your situation, call the police.

Someone stalking you online, called cyber harassment, is also a stalking crime. 

5. Vulnerable Adult

Read about protecting elders and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect to learn more. That fact sheet also talks about other options for vulnerable adults besides protection orders.

6. Extreme Risk (Red flag)

Only to take firearms away from a current or former intimate partner, family member, or roommate who’s threatening to harm themselves or others. The judge orders the person to turn over their firearms and any conceal carry license to law enforcement, and not to get or try to get any other firearms. This type of protection order doesn’t order the other person to stay away from you, leave your home, or stop following or trying to contact you. 

The process for getting this type of protection order is mostly the same as for the others, although the forms are different. Law enforcement must always serve the other person. 

You can ask the judge to order the restrained person to surrender weapons and prohibit them from getting more. You can ask for this when you first file for a protection order or restraining order, or later if your protection or restraining order doesn’t include a weapons order.

安全警报！如果法官发出缴械和禁止武器令，则被限制人必须在执法人员送达法庭令时立即交出武器。如果由于某种原因没能即刻交出武器，则可能会增加您的风险等级。家庭暴力或其他权益倡导者可以帮助您制定一份与该问题有关的安全计划。如果您认为被限制人仍然持有武器，则可以拨打9-1-1进行举报。

No. Protection orders, restraining orders, and no contact orders all offer similar safety restraints, but you get them in different types of cases. 

You can only ask for a restraining order as part of a family law case (like a divorce, parentage, or parenting plan case). You can get an immediate or temporary restraining order while your family law case is in progress, and a final restraining order when the case is over. You don’t need to be involved in a family law case to ask for a protection order. 

A judge can issue a no contact order in a criminal case when a prosecutor has charged someone with a crime. 

Law enforcement will enter your Protection Order in a statewide computer system. It’s enforceable statewide and in other states.

You should call the police to report if the person you got the order against breaks (violates) the order. This is a crime. The police must enforce your order and arrest the person who has harmed you. 

Ask for a Hope Card! A Hope Card is a small card you can easily carry. It’s one way to show you have a full protection order. You can request one at courts.wa.gov/hopecard/. If you don’t have a Hope Card, you should always carry a certified copy of your protection order with you. 

注册Washington州VINELink获取重要的受害者安全通知，例如： 

• 如果将肇事者从拘留所或监狱转移或释放 
• 如果肇事者在被禁止或拒绝购买枪支期间试图购买或转让枪支
• 送达保护令时
• 保护令失效日期前90天提醒

对于一些暴力犯罪，您可以向惩教部门申请转移或释放提前通知。

It lasts either for a fixed period or permanently. If it protects children, the part of it protecting the children can only last one year at most, unless a judge orders it as part of a family law case. Extreme Risk Protection Orders last for one year.

You can ask a judge to renew the order before it ends (before it expires). The judge must renew your order unless the restrained person can prove they’re no longer a risk to you and/or your children.

Your protection order is good wherever you go, even out of state. You don't have to register it anywhere.