Restraining Orders

This section defines domestic violence and abuse for the purposes of getting a protective order:

• abuse is when a a “cohabitant” purposely causes or tries to cause you physical harm or makes you afraid that you will be immediately physically harmed;¹
• domestic violence is when a “cohabitant”:
  
  • commits any criminal offense involving violence, physical harm, or the threat of violence or physical harm;
  • makes any attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation to commit a criminal offense involving violence or physical harm; or
  • commits or attempts to commit any of the following offenses against you:
    • assault;
    • aggravated assault;
    • criminal homicide;
    • harassment;
    • electronic communication harassment;
    • kidnapping, child kidnapping, or aggravated kidnapping;
    • mayhem;
    • sexual offenses, including rape, sodomy, sexual battery, and many others which you can find listed under “Title 76, Chapter 5, Part 4” on the Utah State Legislature website;
    • sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor;
    • stalking;
    • unlawful detention or unlawful detention of a minor;
    • protective order violation;
    • any offense against property, including robbery, burglary, criminal trespass and many others, which you can find under “Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3” on the Utah State Legislature website;
    • possession of a deadly weapon with criminal intent;
    • discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, near a highway, or in the direction of any person, building, or vehicle;
    • disorderly conduct but only if the conviction is the result of a plea agreement in which the defendant was originally charged with any of the domestic violence offenses listed above;
    • commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child, which is referred to in the law as “child abuse”;
    • threatening with or using a dangerous weapon;
    • threatening violence;
    • tampering with a witness;
    • retaliation against a witness or victim;
    • unlawful distribution of an intimate image;
    • unlawful distribution of a counterfeit intimate image;
    • voyeurism;
    • damage to or interruption of a communication device;
    • aggravated cruelty to an animal, with the intent to harass or threaten the cohabitant; or
    • an offense described in section 78b-7-806(1) of the law.²

Note: If you are being abused by someone who you dated but with whom you never lived, you may be eligible for a dating violence protective order. If you are seeking a protective order only for your child, and not also for yourself, your child may be eligible for a child protective order. If you do not qualify for a cohabitant abuse protective order, you may be able to get a civil stalking injunction. You can read more about this type of order on our Civil Stalking Injunctions page.

¹ UT ST § 78B-7-102(1)
² UT ST §§ 78B-7-102(12); 77-36-1(4)