Protective Orders

If you are accused of domestic assault you need to be on the watch out for two different types of protective orders. The first is what's called a magistrate order of emergency protection and this is a temporary sixty day order that is signed by the judge handling the assault case. Oftentimes, law enforcement and prosecutors will sponsor the filing of an additional two year protective order. The first when a person will find out about this is when they are served with papers by a constable inviting them to come to court on a protective order and it is very important to take this seriously.

The reason to be concerned about these two year protective orders is that they carry with it a great deal of baggage if you just allow them to happen. It is important that when you are served with papers to appear to a protective order that you make sure experienced counsel is there with you. The reason for this is because there is going to be a finding of domestic violence against you if you simply agree to the order or don't show up. Secondly, these protective orders will show up on one's permanent record and employers and future employers will be able to see that. The affirmative finding of domestic violence, it is associated with the granting of these orders is something that can prevent you from being able to get custody of your children or even partial custody of your children. It is important to take these very seriously.

An attorney representing you at a hearing needs to be prepared. They need to understand what the facts are in the case. They need to have spoken with you at a length and they need to know what's in the offense report. It's important to be able to cross examine the person making the accusations in order to convince the judge the protective order should not be issued.