A civil protection order – sometimes known as a restraining order – is a court order that requires one party (the defendant) to remain a certain distance from the person requesting the order. It provides protection to the filing person, provided he or she can prove there is a risk to their safety based on the intentions and/or behaviors of the defendant.

Civil protection orders list the locations that the protected person is most likely to be, such as his or her home, place of employment, etc., and the defendant must be aware of and remain a specific distance from these locations. Unlike a criminal restraining order, the protected person in a civil protection order must request the order from the court.

According to C.R.S. § 13-14-101(2.4)(a) a civil protection order:

prohibits the restrained person from contacting, harassing, injuring, intimidating, molesting, threatening, touching, stalking, or sexually assaulting or abusing any protected person or from entering or remaining on premises, or from coming within a specified distance of a protected person or premises, or from taking, transferring, concealing, harming, disposing of or threatening harm to an animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by a protected person, or any other provision to protect the protected person from imminent danger to life or health.

Since issues regarding violence are unpredictable and can arise unexpectedly, it is possible that the court will issue an emergency protection order. According to C.R.S. § 13-14-103, an emergency protection order:

• Restrains a person from contacting, harassing, injuring, intimidating, threatening, molesting, touching, stalking, sexually assaulting or abusing any other party, a minor child of either of the parties, or a minor child who is in danger in the reasonably foreseeable future of being a victim of an unlawful sexual offense or domestic abuse;
• Excludes a party from a residence upon a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result;
• Awards temporary care and control of any minor children involved;
• Prevents the defendant from contacting minor children at school, at work, or anywhere else;
• Restrains the defendant from molesting, injuring, killing, taking, transferring, encumbering, concealing, disposing of or threatening harm to an animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by any other party, a minor child of either of the parties, or an elderly or at-risk adult;
• Specifies arrangements for possession and care of animals involved.

If you believe you need a civil protection order, we can help. If you feel you or anyone in your home is in immediate danger, it is important that you contact the police right away. Once the immediate threat has passed, we can help you evaluate your situation and determine the best option for protecting your safety, your children’s safety, and the safety of anyone else you care about.

To schedule a consultation, contact Montgomery Little & Soran, PC at 303-773-8100.