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Restraining Orders (Mass. General Laws ch. 209A)

2 Requirements for getting a restraining order:

1.  The victim and the batterer are related in one of the following ways:

•  They are related by blood
•  They are related by marriage
•  They have or had a substantial dating relationship
•  They are or were members of the same household
•  They have a child together

2.  The batterer perpetrated one or more of the following types of abuse:

•  Attempted physical harm
•  Actual physical harm
•  Placed victim in fear of imminent serious physical harm
•  Sexual abuse (force, threat or duress)

Procedure for getting restraining order:

•  Emergency - through police & Emergency Judicial Response System - valid until next business day
•  One party obtains order without notifying the other party (ex parte) - valid for up to 10 court-business days
•  Extended order issued after opportunity for both parties to be heard batterer could be in court - valid for up to a year
•  Permanent order - can be issued after the end of the extended order

Order could include:

•  No abuse
•  No contact with person requesting the order (and children) directly or indirectly
•  Vacate and stay away from home, work, school, etc.
•  Child custody, support, and visitation (visitation orders only in Probate & Family Court)
•  Monetary Damages

Violation of no abuse, no contact and stay away portions of a Restraining Order is a Crime

•  Mandatory arrest
•  Up to two and a half years in the house of corrections
•  Probation ( may include barterer's intervention program)