Domestic Violence

Ask the court clerk for a Domestic Violence Petition. Simply write down, as clearly and with as much detail as possible:

• what happened to you.
• the date, time, and location where it happened.
• the important facts about the abuse.
• additional facts of any other past or present abuse by this person.

If you need extra paper to write on, ask the clerk. You will have to swear under oath that what you have written is true.

At the final hearing, you will have to testify before the judge about what happened and why you want the final protective order. Tell the judge about what you wrote down in your petition, if you have a history of being abused by your attacker, or if he or she has abused any other member of your family.

Other things to be sure and tell the judge:

If you have children in common with the abusive person, tell the judge whether you want to have them continue living with you and whether you want child or other financial support.

Once a protective order is in effect against the abuser, it is a crime for the abuser to violate the order. If the abuser knowingly violates a protective order in any way, it is a class A misdemeanor crime. You should report any violations to the police. The police will decide whether to arrest and prosecute him/her. Regardless of what the police do, if you feel there is a violation of the order, you can also take the abuser back to court by filing a motion for contempt of the order. A contempt hearing must be held within 14 days.

In addition to getting protective orders, you can also ask the police to charge your abuser or stalker with one or more crimes.

If the police have good cause to believe that you have been abused within the past twelve hours or that a protective order has been violated, they can immediately arrest the abuser and file criminal charges against him/her. If it has been more than twelve hours, the police must get a warrant to arrest the abuser.