The most common protective orders in Arizona are orders of protection and injunctions against harassment.\u00a0 These orders are commonly referred to as “restraining orders.”\u00a0 Protective orders restrain certain kinds of contact between the plaintiff and the defendant.\u00a0 At a minimum, they usually order the defendant to stay a distance away from the plaintiff.\u00a0 They may also restrict telephone and electronic communication (email and text) with the plaintiff.\u00a0\u00a0They may order the defendant to stay away from the plaintiff’s workplace.\u00a0 In\u00a0some cases, an order of protection may award the plaintiff exclusive use and possession of a residence previously shared with the defendant.\u00a0\u00a0Under certain conditions, the issuing judge may even include in the protective order a limitation on the defendant’s contact with other “protected persons”, such as the parties’ common children.<\/p>\n
In consulting with individuals regarding orders of protection with which they have been served, I am often\u00a0 told by my client that the order prevents him from seeing his children or that the order prevents him from going to his house.\u00a0 When I review the paperwork, however, sometimes I find that although the plaintiff requested these restrictions in the petition<\/em>, the judge did not include those restrictions in the order<\/em>\u00a0 itself.\u00a0\u00a0 The client is usually very relieved when I explain that the petition simply states what the plaintiff requested<\/strong> but that\u00a0unless the judge includes those restrictions in the order itself, the restrictions requested in the petition are meaningless.\u00a0 It’s what’s in the protective order<\/em> that counts.<\/p>\n