astraea/books/protection-orders.md

For educational purposes only — not legal advice.

Protection Orders in Washington State

Washington law gives people a fast, free civil court process to get protection from violence, harassment, stalking, sexual assault, and firearm danger. Since July 1, 2022, all protection orders are governed by one consolidated statute — chapter 7.105 RCW — which replaced and recodified the older separate laws, including the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (former chapter 26.50 RCW) and parts of the stalking protection order law (former chapter 26.52 RCW). The recodification took effect July 1, 2022 (see RCW 7.105.900; 2021 c 215).

The Six Types of Protection Orders

RCW 7.105.100(1) establishes six types of protection order petitions:

1. Domestic violence protection order (DVPO) — requires domestic violence by an intimate partner or a family or household member (RCW 7.105.100(1)(a)).
2. Sexual assault protection order — requires nonconsensual sexual conduct, nonconsensual sexual penetration, or commercial sexual exploitation. A single incident is enough. No relationship to the respondent is required (RCW 7.105.100(1)(b)).
3. Stalking protection order — requires stalking. No relationship required (RCW 7.105.100(1)(c)).
4. Vulnerable adult protection order — requires that the protected person is a vulnerable adult who has been abandoned, abused, financially exploited, or neglected, or is threatened with those harms (RCW 7.105.100(1)(d)).
5. Extreme risk protection order (ERPO) — requires that the respondent poses a significant danger of injuring self or others with a firearm. Only an intimate partner, a family or household member, or a law enforcement agency can file (RCW 7.105.100(1)(e)).
6. Antiharassment protection order — requires unlawful harassment (a knowing and willful course of conduct, or a single violent act or threat, that seriously alarms the petitioner and serves no lawful purpose). No relationship required (RCW 7.105.100(1)(f); RCW 7.105.010(37)).

The court cannot dismiss a petition just because the conduct would also fit another order type — it must consider the petitioner's preferred type (RCW 7.105.100(5)).

Key Definitions

• Domestic violence means physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of those harms; nonconsensual sexual conduct or penetration; coercive control; unlawful harassment; or stalking — committed by an intimate partner or a family or household member (RCW 7.105.010(10)).
• Coercive control means a pattern of behavior used to cause physical, emotional, or psychological harm that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty. Examples include property destruction, technology abuse, weapon intimidation, isolation, and psychological aggression (RCW 7.105.010(4)).
• Family or household members include people related by blood, marriage, domestic partnership, or adoption; people who currently or formerly lived together; people with a parent-child relationship (including stepparents, stepchildren, grandparents, grandchildren); and a person who is acting or has acted as a legal guardian (RCW 7.105.010(14)).
• Intimate partners include spouses and former spouses, domestic partners and former domestic partners, people who share a child (unless conceived through sexual assault), and people 13 or older who have or had a dating relationship (RCW 7.105.010(21)). A dating relationship is a social relationship of a romantic nature (RCW 7.105.010(9)).
• Stalking includes stalking under RCW 9A.46.110 and cyber harassment under RCW 9A.90.120 (RCW 7.105.010(35)).
• Vulnerable adult includes a person 60 or older who cannot care for themselves, or an adult under guardianship or conservatorship (RCW 7.105.010(38)).

Who Can File

• Any adult can file for themselves; minors 15 and older can file without an adult (RCW 7.105.100(2)).
• Children under 15 must petition through an authorized adult (RCW 7.105.100(3)).
• A petitioner may also ask for protection of minor children and vulnerable adults in the household (RCW 7.105.100(1)(a)).
• Leaving your home does not affect your right to petition (RCW 7.105.105(7)).

How to File: Where, Cost, and Forms

• Petitions may be filed in superior court or in district/municipal court, in person or electronically; filing systems must accept submissions any time of day (RCW 7.105.105(1)). Vulnerable adult protection orders are filed only in superior court (RCW 7.105.065).
• No filing fees are charged for protection order petitions — except antiharassment orders, which may carry a fee unless the respondent committed stalking, a hate crime, a violent act, sexual assault, or domestic violence, or the petitioner cannot pay (RCW 7.105.105(9)).
• No bond is required, service is free, and certified copies and forms are provided free of charge (RCW 7.105.105(8)–(9)).
• The petition must be signed under penalty of perjury and must disclose other pending litigation or existing protection/no-contact orders (RCW 7.105.105(3)–(4)).
• The petitioner may keep their address confidential if disclosing it would risk harm (RCW 7.105.105(10)).
• Standard forms are on the Washington Courts website: the Protection Orders packet (https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.contribute&formID=142) and the Extreme Risk Protection Order forms (https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.contribute&formID=106).

Temporary (Ex Parte) Orders

A petitioner can ask for an immediate ex parte temporary protection order — issued without notice to the respondent — when serious immediate harm or irreparable injury could result before a hearing. The court may issue it the same day the petition is filed, and must review ex parte requests as a priority, no later than the following judicial day (RCW 7.105.305(1); RCW 7.105.105(12)).

• The temporary order is initially valid for up to 14 days, extendable for good cause (RCW 7.105.100(8)).
• The full hearing must be set within 14 days of filing (RCW 7.105.305(4)).
• There is a rebuttable presumption that the petitioner's minor children are included in a temporary DVPO (RCW 7.105.100(8)).

What an Order Can Do

RCW 7.105.310 lists the relief a court may grant, including:

• Restraining the respondent from violence, threats, stalking, harassment, and any contact — direct, indirect, or through third parties (RCW 7.105.310(1)(a)–(b)).
• Excluding the respondent from the shared residence, and from the petitioner's residence, workplace, school, or a child's school or day care (RCW 7.105.310(1)(c)–(d)).
• A distance restriction, presumptively at least 1,000 feet from protected people and places (RCW 7.105.310(1)(e)).
• Temporary residential provisions for shared children, and suspending the respondent's contact under an existing parenting plan, without requiring a full parenting plan (RCW 7.105.310(1)(f)).
• Ordering perpetrator treatment, mental health or chemical dependency evaluation, electronic monitoring, use of a vehicle, and possession of essential personal effects — including pets (RCW 7.105.310(1)(g), (h), (l), (n), (o)).
• Requiring the respondent to pay court costs, service fees, and the petitioner's reasonable attorney fees (RCW 7.105.310(1)(j)).
• Ordering surrender of firearms, dangerous weapons, and any concealed pistol license (RCW 7.105.310(1)(m); RCW 9.41.800).
• Restricting abusive litigation and harassing filings (RCW 7.105.310(1)(p)).

Firearms Surrender

When a qualifying protection order issues, the court must consider RCW 9.41.800 and order the respondent to surrender all firearms, dangerous weapons, and any concealed pistol license, and prohibit possessing, purchasing, or receiving them (RCW 7.105.310(1)(m); RCW 9.41.800). Orders that include weapons surrender require personal service by law enforcement (RCW 7.105.150(1)(a)–(b)). Law enforcement may stand by to help the petitioner recover possessions and firearms (RCW 7.105.320).

The Full Hearing

At the full hearing, the court issues the order if the petitioner proves the required conduct by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) (RCW 7.105.225(1)). The court may not deny a petition merely because the petitioner is a minor, did not report to police, has other court orders available, or there is another pending proceeding (RCW 7.105.225(2)).

Duration and Renewal

• A full order is for a fixed period of at least one year (unless the petitioner requests a shorter period) or may be permanent (RCW 7.105.315(1)). A provision restraining contact with the respondent's own minor children is limited to one year (RCW 7.105.315(2)).
• The petitioner may file for renewal any time in the 90 days before expiration. The hearing is set within 14 days. The petitioner does not need to prove current fear; the order is renewed unless the respondent proves a substantial change in circumstances and that the prohibited conduct will not resume. Renewals are for at least one year or permanent (RCW 7.105.405(1)–(4), (8)).
• The court may not deny renewal just because the respondent never violated the order, time passed, or the respondent moved away (RCW 7.105.405(6)).

Violations: Enforcement and Penalties

• Violating restraint, exclusion, or distance provisions of a DVPO, sexual assault, stalking, or vulnerable adult order is a gross misdemeanor (RCW 7.105.450(1)).
• Police must arrest without a warrant anyone they have probable cause to believe violated those provisions (RCW 7.105.450(2)).
• An assault that violates the order is a class C felony, as is reckless conduct creating substantial risk of death or serious injury; a third violation (with two prior convictions) is also a class C felony (RCW 7.105.450(4)–(5)).
• A violation is also contempt of court, and the court can issue a show-cause order within 14 days (RCW 7.105.450(3), (7)).
• The respondent must know of the order to be penalized; police serve the order if needed (RCW 7.105.465).
• Clerks and law enforcement enter orders into statewide systems and the federal background check system the same or next judicial day; the order is enforceable statewide (RCW 7.105.325).

Modification and Termination

A respondent can ask the court to modify or terminate a DVPO, sexual assault, stalking, or antiharassment order, but only once every 12 months, and the respondent must prove by a preponderance of the evidence a substantial change in circumstances showing the prohibited conduct will not resume. The petitioner has no burden to prove ongoing fear. The court may refuse to terminate a severe-order case regardless (RCW 7.105.500).

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs)

ERPOs address firearm danger, not necessarily abuse of the petitioner:

• Grounds: the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to self or others with a firearm (RCW 7.105.100(1)(e)).
• A temporary ERPO issues on reasonable cause after an ex parte review, and the full hearing follows; a full ERPO can last one year (RCW 7.105.330(2)–(3)).
• The court considers evidence including recent threats or violence, patterns within the past 12 months, violations of other orders, and firearm access (RCW 7.105.215(3)).
• The respondent must surrender all firearms and any concealed pistol license to law enforcement immediately; the license is revoked (RCW 7.105.340).
• The respondent can request a termination hearing once every 12 months and bears the burden of proving they do not pose a significant danger (RCW 7.105.505).
• Filing a knowingly false ERPO petition, or possessing a firearm while subject to an ERPO, is a gross misdemeanor; a repeat firearms violation is a class C felony (RCW 7.105.460).
• Surrendered firearms are returned only after a background check confirms eligibility and the order has ended (RCW 7.105.345).

The Older Laws (Recodification Note)

Before July 1, 2022, domestic violence protection orders lived in chapter 26.50 RCW (the Domestic Violence Prevention Act) and stalking orders in chapter 26.52 RCW. Chapter 7.105 RCW, enacted by Laws of 2021, ch. 215, consolidated and recodified those laws effective July 1, 2022 — for example, former RCW 26.50.100 and 26.50.110 were repealed by 2021 c 215 § 170, effective July 1, 2022, and former RCW 26.52.070 now directs that violations be punished under RCW 7.105.450. Older cases and forms citing chapter 26.50 RCW are still useful background, but current citations should use chapter 7.105 RCW.

If You Need an Order Right Now

1. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Violations of qualifying orders require mandatory arrest (RCW 7.105.450(2)).
2. Get forms and instructions from the Washington Courts Protection Orders page (https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.contribute&formID=142) or at any courthouse — there is no filing fee in almost all cases (RCW 7.105.105(9)).
3. Ask about advocacy help. Domestic violence advocates at courthouses and community programs can help complete the paperwork. Free legal information is available from WashingtonLawHelp.org (see its "Protection Orders (2022 and later)" resource, https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/resource/protection-orders-2022-and-later) and Legal Voice (https://www.legalvoice.org/). The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233.
4. Keep a certified copy of the order with you, and report any violation to police; you can be protected even if you initiated contact — the order's provisions are on the respondent, and only the court can change the order (RCW 7.105.115(1)(a)).

Sources

• Chapter 7.105 RCW (Civil Protection Orders) — app.leg.wa.gov (sections cited throughout: 7.105.010, 7.105.065, 7.105.100, 7.105.105, 7.105.110, 7.105.115, 7.105.150, 7.105.215, 7.105.225, 7.105.305, 7.105.310, 7.105.315, 7.105.320, 7.105.325, 7.105.330, 7.105.335, 7.105.340, 7.105.345, 7.105.350, 7.105.405, 7.105.450, 7.105.460, 7.105.465, 7.105.500, 7.105.505, 7.105.900)
• RCW 9.41.800 (firearms surrender) — app.leg.wa.gov
• Former chapters 26.50 and 26.52 RCW (recodified/repealed effective July 1, 2022 by 2021 c 215) — app.leg.wa.gov
• Washington State Courts — Protection Order forms (courts.wa.gov)
• WashingtonLawHelp.org; Legal Voice (legalvoice.org)