Utah's protective order chapter recognizes five kinds of civil protective order — child, dating violence, sexual violence, cohabitant abuse, and workplace violence (§ 78B-7-102(5)) — plus civil stalking injunctions under Part 7. Which one applies depends entirely on your relationship to the other person, and filing under the wrong one wastes the only hearing you get.
This page covers the ones an individual is most likely to need. Workplace violence protective orders are sought by an employer rather than by an individual (§ 78B-7-1102) and are not covered here.
The deadlines are not the same for every order. Protective orders and stalking injunctions run on completely different clocks, and confusing them is how people lose. If you were served with a civil stalking injunction, read the stalking injunction box below before anything else — your deadline is 10 days, not 21, and no hearing will be set for you automatically.
Jim has represented clients on both sides of these cases — petitioners seeking protection, and respondents defending against orders they believe are wrong or overbroad — in separate matters for different clients. He also represents crime victims in Utah criminal cases as private victim’s counsel. He will not represent both parties to the same dispute, and he cannot take a matter adverse to a current client even in an unrelated case. Every consultation starts with a conflict check.
If You Need Protection
Start with the two facts that surprise people most.
It is free at the courthouse. A court clerk, constable, or law enforcement agency may not charge you for filing the petition, for obtaining an ex parte order, for the copies needed for service, or for service of process. (§ 78B-7-105(4)) That bar runs against those government actors only — a private process server can still charge you.
The court can act the same day, without telling the other person first. If the petition shows abuse or danger of abuse, the court may immediately issue an ex parte order before the respondent has any notice.
If you are filing without a lawyer, the clerk's office must give you the forms, clerical help filling them out and filing them, information on how service works, and a list of legal service organizations. That is nonlegal assistance only, and it is real help — but nobody at the clerk's window can tell you which order to file under or what to put in the petition. (§ 78B-7-105(1), (3))
Which Order Applies to You
These are not interchangeable. The statute sorts them by your relationship to the person you need protection from.
Cohabitant Abuse Protective Order
A spouse, ex, co-parent, household member, or relative
Available to any cohabitant who has been subjected to abuse or domestic violence, or where there is a substantial likelihood of it. You can file whether or not you have left the home, and whether or not a divorce is pending.
§ 78B-7-602(1), (2) · Title 78B, Ch. 7, Part 6
Dating Violence Protective Order
A dating partner you have not lived with and are not related to
For abuse or dating violence by a dating partner, or a substantial likelihood of it. Note the boundary: you may not seek an order under this part against an intimate partner — that situation belongs under the cohabitant abuse statute instead.
§ 78B-7-403(1), (6) · Title 78B, Ch. 7, Part 4
Sexual Violence Protective Order
Someone who sexually assaulted you and is not a partner or household member
Available if you have been subjected to sexual violence and are neither a cohabitant nor a dating partner of the respondent. The statute does not require a criminal charge, a conviction, or a police report. An adult may not file one on a child's behalf under this part; that is what a child protective order is for.
§ 78B-7-503(1)(a), (1)(b) · Title 78B, Ch. 7, Part 5
Child Protective Order
A child who is being abused or is in danger
Any interested person may petition on behalf of a child who is being abused or is in imminent danger of abuse by anyone, or on behalf of a child who has been abused by someone who is not the child's parent, stepparent, guardian, or custodian.
There is a step before filing: the interested person must first make a referral to the Division of Child and Family Services. (§ 78B-7-202(1)(b)) The court can issue the order ex parte and may appoint a guardian ad litem.
§ 78B-7-202(1) · Title 78B, Ch. 7, Part 2
Civil Stalking Injunction
Anyone who will not leave you alone, relationship or not
The catch-all when none of the relationship categories above fit: a neighbor, a coworker, a stranger, someone you met once. Different part of the chapter, different standard, and a completely different timeline — see the box below.
Title 78B, Ch. 7, Part 7 · How stalking injunctions work →
What Happens, and When
This timeline is for cohabitant abuse, dating violence, and sexual violence protective orders.
- You file. No courthouse fee. The clerk gives you the forms and clerical help if you are unrepresented.
- The court may issue an ex parte order immediately. No notice to the other person, no hearing first.
- The respondent is served. No charge from the clerk, constable, or law enforcement for service.
- Hearing within 21 days. Once an ex parte order issues, the court must set the hearing within 21 days, though it may be continued on grounds the statute lists. An ex parte order may never be extended beyond 180 days. (§ 78B-7-604(1), § 78B-7-405(1), § 78B-7-505(1))
- The court decides after hearing both sides. A cohabitant abuse protective order entered after notice and a hearing is effective until further order of the court. (§ 78B-7-604(1)(e))
Stalking injunctions work differently. No 21-day hearing is set. Instead, the respondent has 10 days after being served to request an evidentiary hearing in writing. If the respondent does not, the ex parte injunction automatically becomes a civil stalking injunction with no further notice, and it lasts three years from the day it was served. (§ 78B-7-701(3)(c), (5)(a))
The hearing is the whole case. It is not a formality and it is not a scheduling conference. Both sides testify, evidence comes in, and the judge decides. People lose at this hearing because they arrive with a phone full of screenshots and no idea how to get them admitted, or because they tell the story chronologically instead of proving the elements. This is the hearing where preparation matters most.
You cannot simply change your mind. A petition for a cohabitant abuse protective order may not be withdrawn without approval of the court. Dating violence and sexual violence petitions may not be withdrawn without a written order of the court. (§§ 78B-7-602(3), 78B-7-403(5), 78B-7-503(2)) Decide carefully before you file, not after.
If an Order Was Filed Against You
If you were served with a civil stalking injunction, your deadline is 10 days and no hearing will be set for you. You must request an evidentiary hearing in writing, within 10 days after you are served. If you do not, the ex parte injunction automatically becomes a civil stalking injunction without further notice to you, and it lasts three years from the day you were served. (§ 78B-7-701(3)(c), (5)(a))
If you request the hearing late, the court will still set one within a reasonable time — but the burden shifts to you to show good cause why the injunction should be dissolved or modified. (§ 78B-7-701(8)) The 21-day hearing described below applies to protective orders, not to stalking injunctions.
The ex parte order is already in effect. It binds you from the moment you are served, before you have said a word to any judge. Do not contact the petitioner. Not to apologize, not to ask them to drop it, not to arrange picking up your belongings. Depending on which order you were served with, contact can be a separate crime, contempt, or both.
The single most common way people make their situation dramatically worse is by responding to the petitioner directly. Even if the petitioner contacts you first, and even if they invite it, the order binds you and not them.
Your Hearing, and What It Decides
For a cohabitant abuse, dating violence, or sexual violence protective order, the court must set the hearing within 21 days of issuing an ex parte order. That is your opportunity to be heard, and functionally your only one. The judge decides that day whether an order issues against you that can last for years.
What a lawyer does before that hearing: gets the petition and any supporting declaration, identifies which statutory part the petitioner filed under and whether it actually fits your relationship, gathers the messages and records that contradict the allegations, prepares your testimony, and identifies which requested terms are overbroad and can be narrowed even if some order does issue.
What Is Actually at Stake
Firearms — and a correction to what you have probably read
The federal firearms prohibition at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) is not automatic and does not attach to every protective order. It applies only where all three of the following are true:
- The order was issued after a hearing of which you received actual notice and at which you had an opportunity to participate. An ex parte order, entered before you were heard, does not satisfy this.
- The order restrains you as to an intimate partner, that partner's child, or your child. "Intimate partner" is a narrow federal term: your spouse, a former spouse, a person who is a parent of your child, or a person who cohabits or has cohabited with you. (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(32)) A dating partner you never lived with and share no child with generally does not qualify, and neither does a neighbor, coworker, or stranger.
- The order either includes a finding that you are a credible threat to that person's physical safety, or by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.
The specific findings and language in the final order can determine whether the federal prohibition attaches at all. That is something to address at the hearing, not discover afterward. Utah law also imposes its own firearm restrictions in some circumstances, and a criminal case running alongside the civil one carries separate consequences.
How long it lasts
For a cohabitant abuse protective order, the two halves run on different clocks, and this trips up almost everyone:
- The civil provisions expire 150 days after the order is entered, unless the court finds good cause to extend them. A court may not extend them more than three years past entry. (§ 78B-7-606(1)(b))
- The order itself automatically expires three years after entry, unless the petitioner files a motion before it expires showing a current reasonable fear of future harm, abuse, or domestic violence, or that you violated the order or committed a qualifying domestic violence offense after it issued. (§ 78B-7-606(1)(a), (2))
- The criminal provisions are the stickiest. A court may not vacate them within two years of issuance unless the petitioner is personally served, personally appears and gives specific consent, or submits a verified affidavit agreeing to the vacation. (§ 78B-7-603(10)) In practice that means you cannot unwind them on your own for two years — it takes the petitioner's active cooperation.
There is a middle option people are not told about. A court may enter a no-fault cohabitant abuse protective order if both parties agree to it and to its terms. A no-fault order may not later be introduced in a civil or criminal proceeding as evidence that you committed domestic violence or abuse. (§ 78B-7-603(4)) It still must contain a finding on whether you are a credible threat for federal firearms purposes (§ 78B-7-603(5)(e)), and the two-year rule on vacating criminal provisions still applies. This is worth understanding before you agree to anything at the courthouse.
Custody, housing, and employment
A protective order is a public court record. It can be raised in a divorce or custody proceeding, and a DV-adjacent order frequently arrives alongside a criminal case and a DCFS investigation running at the same time on the same facts. What you say in one can be used in the others.
Mutual orders are restricted. A court generally may not grant protective orders to opposing parties unless each party files an independent petition, both are served, each makes a showing of abuse at a due process hearing, and each demonstrates that the abuse or domestic violence did not occur in self-defense. (§ 78B-7-108(1), § 78B-7-409(1)) Separately, a person already subject to an order generally cannot obtain one back absent specific conditions. "I'll just file one back" is not something you can execute at the counter.
Violating an Order Is a Separate Problem
Violating a cohabitant abuse protective order or a criminal protective order is its own crime — a class A misdemeanor, and a domestic violence offense subject to enhancement. (§ 76-5-108)
Note the scope carefully, because it is narrower than most people assume. Section 76-5-108 reaches orders issued under Part 3 (foreign protection orders), Part 6 (cohabitant abuse), Part 8 (criminal protective orders), and Title 80. Dating violence orders, sexual violence orders, and child protective orders are enforced under different provisions. Do not assume § 76-5-108 governs your order — ask which provision does.
Stalking injunctions have their own rule, and it is a serious one. Violating an ex parte civil stalking injunction or a civil stalking injunction constitutes the criminal offense of stalking under § 76-5-106.5, and is also a violation of the injunction itself. It can be enforced by a civil action brought by the petitioner, a criminal action brought by a prosecutor, or both. (§ 78B-7-703)
Your Deadline Is Days, Not Weeks. Call Before It.
Free consultation, for one side of any given matter. Jim will tell you whether you need a lawyer for your hearing and what it will cost before any work begins.
(801) 641-0883 Send a MessageBefore you send anything: Tily Law is a criminal defense firm that also represents petitioners, respondents, and crime victims, so the firm may already represent someone adverse to you. Please send only your name, the other party’s name, and the county — no details about your case — until we confirm we can talk. Sending a message does not create an attorney-client relationship, and information you send before a conflict check clears may not be treated as confidential.
This page is general information about Utah law, current as of August 2026. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and statutes change. Which order applies to you, and what it will do in your case, depends on facts this page cannot know. Contact an attorney about your specific situation. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.