Domestic Violence Protection in DC

This next series of articles will deal with domestic violence protection in the District of Columbia.

In the District of Columbia you can file for a “Civil Protection Order” for protection from abuse from someone who is essentially a member of your family or household or otherwise related to you.

When the abuser is someone who is not related to you nor a member of your household you usually have to file for a “Restraining Order.”

/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Final Peace Orders in Maryland

In a Final Peace Order in Maryland, the judge can order that the abuser:

  • Stop abusing you.
  • Stay away from you and not try to contact you or harass you at your home, school, job, or the place where you may be staying.
  • Attend counseling.
  • Engage in mediation.
  • Pay filing fees and court costs.
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Interim Peace Orders in Maryland

An Interim Peace Order will contain a date and time (within two court-business days) on which you must present the order and application to a Judge in the District Court in order to obtain a Temporary Peace Order.

The Court will grant the Order if the judge finds there are “reasonable grounds” to grant it. The hearing is usually “ex-parte”, meaning that the court can grant you a Temporary Peace Order even if the Respondent does not appear.  The Interim or Temporary Peace Order is served upon the Respondent by a Sheriff.

In an Interim or Temporary Peace Order, the judge can order that the abuser:

  • Stop abusing you.
  • Stay away from you and not try to contact you or harass you at your home, school, job, or the place where you may be staying.
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Maryland Peace Orders

You are eligible for a Maryland Peace Order order if you and the alleged abuser: have/have had a dating relationship, or if the alleged abuser is a neighbor, a stranger, or anyone else.

 For purposes of a Domestic Violence “Peace Order,” Maryland law defines “Abuse” as the occurrence of one or more of the following acts:

  • Abuse (as defined above for Protective Orders)
  • Harassment
  • Trespass
  • Malicious destruction of property
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Final Protective Orders in Maryland

In a Final Protective Order, a judge can order any of the relief available in an Interim or Temporary Protective Order and can also:

  • Establish temporary visitation with children.
  • Award emergency family maintenance.
  • Award use and possession of jointly titled car.
  • Order counseling.
  • Order the abuser to surrender all firearms.
  • Order the abuser to pay filing fees and court costs.
  • Order any other relief that the judge determines is necessary to protect a person eligible for relief from abuse
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Maryland Temporary Protective Order

The Temporary Protective Order  for Maryland will contain a date and time (seven days later) on which you and the Respondent must appear for an evidentiary hearing to determine if you qualify for a Final Protective Order.

In order to grant a Final Protective Order, the Court must find that you have met your burden by a “preponderance of the evidence.”

This is slightly higher than the “reasonable grounds” standard for granting  an Interim or Temporary Protective Order.

/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Maryland Interim Protective Order

An Interim Protective Order will order the abuser to stay away until a date and time (within two court-business days) on which you must present the application and order to a Judge in the District Court in order to obtain a Temporary Protective Order.

A Temporary Protective Order will be granted if the Court finds there are “reasonable grounds” to grant it.

The hearing on the Temporary Protective Order is usually “ex-parte”, meaning that the court can grant you a Temporary Protective Order even if the Respondent does not show up for the hearing.

The Interim Protective Order and Temporary Protective Order are served upon the Respondent by a Sheriff.

/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Maryland Interim and Temporary Protective Orders

An Interim or Temporary Protective Order can order that the abuser:

  • Stop abusing you.
  • Stay away from you and to not try to contact you or harass you at your home, school, job, or the place where you may be staying, stay away from your child’s school, and from your family members’ homes.
  • Stay out of your house.
  • Leave the home where the two of you live, if you are married to the abuser, AND you were living with your abuser at the time of the abuse.
  • Leave the home if you are not married to the abuser, but were living with the abuser at the time of the abuse, AND your name is on the lease or deed for the house, OR you lived with the abuser for at least 90 days within the past year.
  • The judge can also give you temporary custody of any children that you have with the abuser.
  • The judge can award temporary possession of any pet of the person eligible for relief or the respondent.
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

How to File for a Maryland Protective Order

For a Maryland Protective Order, you would complete and file a Petition for Protective Order. 

You file the petition to obtain a Temporary Protective Order with the clerk in any District Court or Circuit Court when the court is open, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

However, if the court is closed, you can file the petition to obtain an Interim Protective Order with the Commissioner’s Office of the District Court, which is open at all other times (24 hours) every day including weekends.

/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP

Who Is Eligible for a Maryland Protective Order?

You are eligible for a Maryland  Protective Order if you and the alleged abuser:

  • Are current or former spouses
  • Have lived together in an intimate relationship for at least 90 days during the past year
  • Are related by blood, marriage, or adoption
  • Are in a parent-child, or stepparent-stepchild relationship and have resided together for at least 90 days during the past year
  • Are in a caretaker-vulnerable adult relationship
  • Are the parents of a child together
  • Have had a sexual relationship within 1 year before the filing of the petition
/by Thyden Gross and Callahan LLP