How Is A Protection Order Issued in Colorado?

A civil protection order is used by the Court based on the affidavit filed by the person requesting the civil protection order. After a hearing the Judge will either dismiss the temporary protection order or make the temporary civil protection order permanent. If both parties agree the court could continue the temporary civil protection order for upto a year without making the temporary protection order into a permanent protection order.

In any criminal case under Title 18 any person charged with any crime the Court must issue a mandatory protection order till the criminal case is closed. The mandatory protection order in a criminal case is to protect the victim or witness from any future actions of the defendant. A defendant is a person charged with a crime.

Any protection order (civil or criminal) can be only issued or modified by a judge. Any changes to a protection order must be actually signed by the judge showing the changes. Do not let the person who asked for the order convince you that it has been canceled or modified without a court order. If you do and you violate the actual order, you will be charged with a crime and may face jail time. If you want to make a change to any Protection Order, you have to file a motion with the court that issued the protection order giving your reasons and getting the other party’s consent, along with the approval of a judge. In case the protection order is in a criminal case then the views of the assigned prosecuting attorney on the requested changes or modifications and those of the protected party (ies) will be considered by the Judge. The protected party(ies) are the victim and witness in the criminal case. The prosecuting attorney is usually the deputy district attorney in State Court or the city attorney in City or Municipal Court.

What Is A Temporary Protection Order in Colorado?

A temporary protection order is only temporary until the judge makes it permanent. A temporary protection order is only issued in a civil protection case.

What Is A Permanent Protection Order?

A permanent protection order comes into effect after the temporary protection order is issued. The parties come to court and have a hearing, where each side produces evidence and makes an argument to the judge as to why the temporary order should or should not be made permanent. Based on the evidence presented by each side the Judge decides if the party has proved by “preponderance of evidence” that the temporary should be made permanent as without permanency of the civil protection order the person seeking the civil protection order would continue to face imminent danger of harm to person’s life or health and that only issuing a permanent civil protection order will the person seeking the civil protection order will be protected from the person against whom the civil protection order is issued. “Preponderance of Evidence” is the standard of proof required to convince the Judge to convert a temporary civil protection order into a permanent civil protection order. Generally, based on all the evidence the evidence must be slightly more than fifty percent of the evidence.

How Is The Protection Order Enforced? What Happens When It Is Violated?

A protection order is enforced on a voluntary basis, unless someone complains to the police of a violation. The police then checks a centralized registry, where all protection orders are entered. A permanent order stays in effect until either party makes a request to the court to vacate or dismiss the protection order. Therefore, the permanent civil protection order is far more dangerous than the criminal protection order. When the police show up, if they see that there is a violation, it is enough evidence for them to ask for an arrest warrant or to arrest you right away and bring you to court. All the police needs is “probable cause” to request an arrest warrant or to arrest you without an arrest warrant. In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. The principle behind the standard is to limit the power of authorities to perform random or abusive searches (unlawful search and seizure or arrest), and to promote lawful evidence gathering and procedural form during criminal arrest and prosecution. The standard also applies to personal or property searches. A common definition of probable cause is “a reasonable amount of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to justify a prudent and cautious person’s belief that certain facts are probably true”. Notable in this definition is a lack of requirement for public position or public authority of the individual making the recognition, allowing for use of the term by citizens and/or the general public. The definition of probable cause is, “A reasonable ground for supposing that a charge is well-founded”. The complaining person’s statement (either oral or written) could be sufficient for the police to meet the probable cause standard. Also the police can use hearsay to meet the probable cause standard.

The term probable cause comes from the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article II (Bill of Rights) Section 7 of the State of Constitution of Colorado:

It is possible for there to be errors on the centralized registry. I recently had a case where the clerk failed to update the record after a modification. My client was jailed, and I had to rush to my office on a holiday to fax a copy of the modified order to a friend of his to give to the police, to show that the protection order was amended. After my client was released from court it took a while to get the new case dismissed which was in a different county from the county which originally issued the mandatory protection order. If you have a protection order which is amended or extended, keep copies in your car, in your home, and at work, so if the police make contact, you can show them that there has been a change.

For more information on Issuance Of A Protection Order In Colorado, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (303) 337-0473 today.