A person who believes their safety is in danger can ask the court for an Order of Protection or an Injunction Against Harassment. (27) "Nonphysical contact" includes, but is not limited to, written notes, mail, telephone calls, email, text messages, contact through social media applications, contact through other technologies, or contact through third parties. (9) If the protection order includes the parties' children, a renewed protection order may be issued for more than one year, subject to subsequent orders entered in a proceeding under chapter, (10) The court may award court costs, service fees, and reasonable attorneys' fees to the petitioner as provided in RCW. (4) The court shall grant the motion for renewal unless the respondent proves by a preponderance of the evidence that there has been a substantial change in circumstances and the following: (a) For a domestic violence protection order, that the respondent proves that the respondent will not resume acts of domestic violence against the petitioner or the petitioner's family or household members who are minors or vulnerable adults when the order expires; (b) For a sexual assault protection order, that the respondent proves that the respondent will not engage in, or attempt to engage in, physical or nonphysical contact with the petitioner when the order expires; (c) For a stalking protection order, that the respondent proves that the respondent will not resume acts of stalking against the petitioner or the petitioner's family or household members when the order expires; (d) For a vulnerable adult protection order, that the respondent proves that the respondent will not resume acts of abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, or neglect against the vulnerable adult when the order expires; or. (14) "Financial exploitation" means the illegal or improper use of, control over, or withholding of, the property, income, resources, or trust funds of the vulnerable adult by any person or entity for any person's or entity's profit or advantage other than for the vulnerable adult's profit or advantage. (2) "Abuse," for the purposes of a vulnerable adult protection order, means intentional, willful, or reckless action or inaction that inflicts injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment on a vulnerable adult. (3) Presentation of an unexpired, certified copy of a protection order with proof of service is sufficient for a law enforcement officer to enforce the order regardless of the presence of the order in the law enforcement computer-based criminal intelligence information system. The court shall consider the ability of the respondent to pay for electronic monitoring; (n) Order possession and use of essential personal effects. The petitioner may appear at such hearing and provide evidence to the court regarding the respondent's compliance with the order. Minors are presumed to be unable to pay. (b) If the notice and order are not served on the respondent in time for the full hearing, the issuing court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the superior court to extend the temporary protection order. (3) Transfer procedures, court calendars, and judicial officer assignment must further the goals of this chapter to: Minimize delay; make the system less complex; provide sufficient victim support, consistency, safety, timeliness, and procedural fairness; enable comprehensive use of electronic filing, case tracking, and records management systems; provide for judicial officers with expertise and training in protection orders and trauma-informed practices and continuity of judicial officers at each hearing so the judicial officer will have greater familiarity with the parties, history, and allegations; and help ensure that there is compliance with timely and comprehensive firearms relinquishment to reduce risk of harm. (2) A willful disobedience by a respondent age 18 years or over of any of the following provisions of an antiharassment protection order issued under this chapter is a gross misdemeanor: (a) The restraint provisions prohibiting acts or threats of violence against, or unlawful harassment or stalking of, a protected party, or restraint provisions prohibiting contact with a protected party; (b) A provision excluding the person from a residence, workplace, school, or day care; (c) A provision prohibiting the person from knowingly coming within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified distance of a location, a protected party's person, or a protected party's vehicle; or. (7) A respondent may file a motion to modify or terminate an order no more than once in every 12-month period that the order is in effect, starting from the date of the order and continuing through any renewal period. (a)(i) Except as provided in (a)(iii) and (b)(i) of this subsection, personal service, consistent with court rules for civil proceedings, is required in: (A) Cases requiring the surrender of firearms, such as extreme risk protection orders and protection orders with orders to surrender and prohibit weapons; (B) cases that involve transferring the custody of a child or children from the respondent to the petitioner; (C) cases involving vacating the respondent from the parties' shared residence; (D) cases involving a respondent who is incarcerated; and (E) cases where a petition for a vulnerable adult protection order is filed by someone other than the vulnerable adult. In proceedings where the petitioner is seeking a domestic violence protection order or an antiharassment protection order, the court may realign the designation of the parties as "petitioner" and "respondent" where the court finds that the original petitioner is the abuser or harasser and the original respondent is the victim of domestic violence or unlawful harassment. If the court finds that the respondent established adequate cause, the court shall set a date for hearing the respondent's motion, which must be at least 14 days from the date the court finds adequate cause. (1) To minimize delays and the need for more hearings, which can hinder access to justice and undermine judicial economy, to lessen costs, to guarantee actual notice to the respondent, and to simplify and modernize processes for petitioners, respondents, law enforcement, and the courts, the following methods of service are authorized for protection order proceedings, including petitions, temporary protection orders, reissuances of temporary protection orders, full protection orders, motions to renew protection orders, and motions to modify or terminate protection orders. "Sexual abuse" also includes any sexual conduct between a staff person, who is not also a resident or client, of a facility or a staff person of a program authorized under chapter. (iii) The respondent's email address, number for text messaging, and username or other identification on social media applications and other technologies, if known or available, must be provided by the petitioner to law enforcement in the confidential information form, and attested to by the petitioner as being the legitimate, current, or last known contact information for the respondent. In any situation where a protection order issued under this chapter is modified or terminated before its expiration date, the clerk of the court shall forward on the same day a true copy of the modified order or the termination order to the law enforcement agency specified in the modified or termination order. 2265(d)(3) that prohibit internet publication of filing or registration information of protection orders when such publication is likely to reveal the identity or location of the person protected by the order. . (C) An informational brochure to be served on any respondent who is subject to a temporary or full protection order under (d)(iii)(A) of this subsection; (e) Create a new confidential party information form to satisfy the purposes of the confidential information form and the law enforcement information sheet that will serve both the court's and law enforcement's data entry needs without requiring a redundant effort for the petitioner, and ensure the petitioner's confidential information is protected for the purpose of safety. Relief for temporary and full protection orders, Law enforcement stand-by to recover possessions. (33) "Sexual penetration" means any contact, however slight, between the sex organ or anus of one person by an object, the sex organ, mouth, or anus of another person, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the body of one person or of any animal or object into the sex organ or anus of another person including, but not limited to, cunnilingus, fellatio, or anal penetration. If the respondent is not present, the officer shall make reasonable efforts to serve a copy of the order on the respondent. (2) Upon receipt of the request for a hearing to terminate an extreme risk protection order, the court shall set a date for a hearing. (4) In determining whether there has been a substantial change in circumstances, the court may consider the following unweighted factors, and no inference is to be drawn from the order in which the factors are listed: (a) Whether the respondent has committed or threatened sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, or other harmful acts against the petitioner or any other person since the protection order was entered; (e) Whether the respondent has either acknowledged responsibility for acts of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, or behavior that resulted in the entry of the protection order, or successfully completed state-certified perpetrator treatment or counseling since the protection order was entered; (f) Whether the respondent has a continuing involvement with drug or alcohol abuse, if such abuse was a factor in the protection order; (g) Whether the petitioner consents to terminating the protection order, provided that consent is given voluntarily and knowingly; or. Two copies must be mailed, postage prepaid, one by ordinary first-class mail and the other by a form of mail requiring a tracking or certified information showing when and where it was delivered. (1) In issuing any type of protection order, other than an ex parte temporary antiharassment protection order as limited by subsection (2) of this section, and other than an extreme risk protection order, the court shall have broad discretion to grant such relief as the court deems proper, including an order that provides relief as follows: (a) Restrain the respondent from committing any of the following acts against the petitioner and other persons protected by the order: Domestic violence; nonconsensual sexual conduct or nonconsensual sexual penetration; sexual abuse; stalking; acts of abandonment, abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation against a vulnerable adult; and unlawful harassment; (b) Restrain the respondent from making any attempts to have contact, including nonphysical contact, with the petitioner or the petitioner's family or household members who are minors or other members of the petitioner's household, either directly, indirectly, or through third parties regardless of whether those third parties know of the order; (c) Exclude the respondent from the residence that the parties share; (d) Exclude the respondent from the residence, workplace, or school of the petitioner; or from the day care or school of a minor child; (e) Restrain the respondent from knowingly coming within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified distance from a specified location including, but not limited to, a residence, school, day care, workplace, the protected party's person, and the protected party's vehicle. (2) Pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether the vulnerable adult is unable, due to incapacity, undue influence, or duress, to protect his or her person or estate in connection with the issues raised in the petition or order, must be held within 14 days of entry of the temporary protection order. All motions to modify or terminate shall be based on the written materials and evidence submitted to the court. About 15 percent of Washington adults report experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime, and women, low-income people, and black and indigenous communities experience higher rates of domestic violence.
