If you have been served with an Order for Protection, it is important that you consult with an attorney immediately to discuss your rights, as in most cases you only have five days to request a hearing after you are served with an Order for Protection. In the alternative, if you are served with an Order for Protection and a hearing has already been scheduled, the hearings often take place within 5-7 days of the date you were served with an Order for Protection, so it is also important that you contact an attorney immediately.

If you are the party seeking an Order for Protection you should contact Family Court Services at your local county courthouse. Generally, the staff at the courthouse can provide you with the forms you will need to complete to ask the Court to grant you a Temporary Order for Protection, also referred to as an Ex Parte Order for Protection. You will fill out a Petition for an Order for Protection, and in your Petition, you will provide specific details regarding the domestic abuse which has occurred between you and the other party. The Court Services staff will then take your Petition to one of the District Court Judges and a Judge will decide whether or not to grant your Order for Protection. If your Order for Protection is granted, the person against whom you are seeking an Order for Protection will be personally served with the Order for Protection. Often the family law attorneys do not get involved in the process until the hearing has been scheduled and the party who is seeking the Order for Protection retains an attorney to represent him/her at the hearing.

A request by a party for an Order for Protection after an act of domestic abuse is a civil proceeding governed by Minnesota law. Physical harm, infliction of fear of physical harm, and threat of physical harm are all considered forms of domestic abuse. An Order for Protection may be issued to protect an individual and children from future harm. A violation of an Order for Protection is a criminal act.

Orders for Protection are often referred to by parties and police officers as “no contact orders” or “restraining orders,” but there are significant differences between an Order for Protection, a criminal no contact order (or criminal Domestic Abuse No Contact Order - DANCO), and a Harassment Restraining Order:

Accusations of domestic abuse, or the issuance of an Order for Protection, may have a significant affect on any subsequent divorce or paternity proceeding involving custody or parenting time issues. Additionally, if an accused individual testifies at a domestic abuse hearing, he or she may potentially be waiving the right to remain silent at a subsequent criminal hearing.