Renew your Protection Order

社区组织可以提供帮助！如果您曾遭受家庭暴力、骚扰、跟踪或性侵犯，或者受到任何相关威胁，请向当地家庭暴力庇护所或性侵犯援助中心寻求帮助。庇护所为您提供安全规划、临时庇护所、法律支持、咨询以及其他服务。 

访问网站Washington State Domestic Violence Information & Referral（Washington州家庭暴力信息与转介），按县搜索地方性计划，或者文化/社区特定性或部落计划。 

您可以通过电话、短信或在线聊天从以下热线获得全天24小时/每周7天的支持服务： 

• 全国家庭暴力援助热线 1-800-799-7233
• 全国性侵犯援助热线 1-800-656-4673
• StrongHearts原住民帮助热线（全国家庭暴力援助热线的同行支持服务），1-844-762-8483

Will I have to pay to ask to renew my protection order?

No, you don’t have to pay a filing fee. But there may be copying fees and fees for service (delivering the papers to the restrained person), if the judge doesn’t order law enforcement to serve the restrained person for you. 

这里的“法官”指法官和法院专员。

How easy or hard is it to renew a protection order? 

It’s easiest if you don’t want to make any changes to your protection order and the restrained person doesn’t respond or show up at a court hearing to fight the renewal. But even if the restrained person does try to fight the renewal, they must prove that there’s been a real change in circumstances and that they won’t abuse or harm you in the future. This can be hard for them to do. 

How long can I get the protection order renewed for? 

The judge can renew a protection order for one year or longer. The judge can also make a protection order permanent. 

What should I put in the motion form? 

Put facts such as how long it’s been since you got the protection order, if the restrained person has violated the protection order or harmed or abused anyone not protected by the order, if the restrained person has been convicted of any crime since you got the order, and if the restrained person has a continuing problem with alcohol or drug abuse. This isn’t a complete list. You can read more things to tell the judge at the state law: RCW 7.105.405(5).

Could the judge say no?

Maybe. The judge could turn down your request to renew a protection order if the restrained person proves that there’s been a real change in circumstances and they won’t abuse or harm you in the future. Under state law, there are certain reasons the judge can’t use to refuse to renew a protection order.

My protection order kept the other parent away from our children. What happens to the children if I can’t renew it? 

At the renewal hearing, if the judge refuses to renew your protection order, you must follow any other court orders you have about parenting (custody and visitation). If there are no other parenting orders, then you and the other parent will have equal rights to time with the children. You may want to start a new case to get a Parenting Plan.

• Example 1: You had a Parenting Plan that gave the other parent every other weekend time with the children, but then you got a Protection Order that says all contact must be supervised. Your Protection Order is expiring, and the judge denied your motion to renew it. You must go back to following the Parenting Plan when the Protection Order expires. You may want to petition to change your parenting plan.
• Example 2: Your Protection Order is the only court order about parenting time. It says that the restrained person’s contact with the children must be supervised. Your Protection Order is expiring, and the judge denied your motion to renew it. After your Protection Order expires, there will be no rules in place about who the children live with, when they see the other parent, and which parent can make major decisions for them. You may want to get a Parenting Plan. 

If it’s been a long time since the children have had contact with the other parent, you can ask the judge to consider if they should do reunification therapy with the children. You can ask the judge to put in the Denial Order if reunification therapy should happen and why. You may still have to get or change a Parenting Plan to require it. Any such therapy provider should be made aware of the other parent’s history of domestic violence and should have training and experience in the dynamics of intimate partner violence.

My protection order covers my child. What happens when they turn 18? 

Your protection order stops covering that child when they turn 18. But the child can use the renewal process to keep getting protection after age 18, as early as 90 days before it expires or as late as 1 year after it expires. It's easier to renew a protection order than to file for a new one. The judge should renew a protection order, unless the restrained person proves that there’s been a real change in circumstances and that they won’t abuse or harm you in the future.