Introduction to Protection Order Cases in Washington State

Ashbach Law Offices, LLC provides comprehensive, aggressive representation for those who have been served a protection order petition, as well as representing those who feel they need a civil protection order.

Washington State has many types of civil protection orders. These types include domestic violence, sexual assault , stalking (or anti-stalking), anti-harassment, vulnerable adult, and extreme risk protection orders.

Ashbach Law Offices, LLC has successfully represented clients seeking to obtain, or seeking to prevent, all types of orders possible in Washington.  We practice in a variety of courts as well, including municipal courts, district courts, and Superior Courts throughout Western Washington.

Although the laws for protection orders were updated as of July 1, 2022, to allow for more streamlined approaches and consistency, each court handles hearings for protection orders differently.

For example, Snohomish County Superior Court hearings are almost purely done involving submitted documentary evidence (like photos, written statements, etc.). The District Courts in Snohomish County take live testimony. Some of our hearings have required multiple days of testimony and 10+ witnesses!  Skagit County Superior Court and District Court are a hybrid.

Additionally, if a person is charged with a crime, such as a domestic violence assault, most criminal courts will automatically enter a domestic violence order while the case is pending.

So, knowing which court you are in, and having a lawyer who knows how to best present evidence in that particular court, is very important.

 

Our experience in handling protection order cases

As indicated above, our office handles protection order cases throughout Western Washington, most of the time helping defend against protection orders, but often helping people obtain protection orders when they are truly necessary.

Handling both sides (representing those seeking orders and those who try to prevent orders) gives us an excellent understanding of how to best prepare a case for a particular judge. It is our theory in representing cases that in order to do the best job and present the best case, we should be able to determine what the other side’s strongest arguments are (as we would make them) in order to best attempt to refute.

Sample recent results include:

  1. Petitioner for sexual assault protection order – successfully defended at hearing – Snohomish County Superior Court
  2. Petition for vulnerable adult protection order – successfully defended at hearing – Snohomish Superior Court
  3. Petition for vulnerable adult protection order – successfully obtained on behalf of client at hearing – Snohomish Superior Court
  4. Petition for sexual assault protection order – successfully defended at hearing – Skagit County Superior Court
  5. Petition for domestic violence protection order – successfully defended at hearing – Skagit County Superior Court
  6. Petition for domestic violence protection order – successfully obtained at  hearing – Skagit County Superior Court
  7. Petition for anti-harassment order – successfully obtained on behalf of client at hearing – Cascade District Court
  8. Petition for anti-harassment order – successfully defended on behalf of client at hearing – South District Court (Lynnwood)
  9. Petition for anti-harassment order – successfully defended on behalf of client at hearing – Evergreen District Court (Monroe)
  10. Petition for vulnerable adult protection order – dismissed – Snohomish Superior Court
  11. Petition for stalking protection order – successfully defended at hearing – Snohomish County Superior Court
  12. Petition for anti-harassment order – successfully defended at hearing – Marysville Municipal Court

Basics of a protection order – what must be shown (or not depending on your position in the case)

RCW 7.105.100 lays out the different types of protection orders, and what must be filed alleged for each type.

Generally:

  1. A petition for a domestic violence protection order, which must allege the existence of domestic violence committed against the petitioner or petitioners by an intimate partner or a family or household member.
  2. A petition for a sexual assault protection order, which must allege the existence of nonconsensual sexual conduct or nonconsensual sexual penetration that was committed against the petitioner by the respondent.
  3. A petition for a stalking protection order, which must allege the existence of stalking committed against the petitioner or petitioners by the respondent. A petitioner who has been stalked by an intimate partner or a family or household member should, but is not required to, seek a domestic violence protection order, rather than a stalking protection order.
  4. A petition for a vulnerable adult protection order, which must allege that the petitioner, or person on whose behalf the petition is brought, is a vulnerable adult and that the petitioner, or person on whose behalf the petition is brought, has been abandoned, abused, financially exploited, or neglected, or is threatened with abandonment, abuse, financial exploitation, or neglect, by the respondent.
  5. A petition for an extreme risk protection order, which must allege that the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to self or others by having in the respondent’s custody or control, purchasing, possessing, accessing, receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive, a firearm. The petition must also identify information the petitioner is able to provide about the firearms, such as the number, types, and locations of any firearms the petitioner believes to be in the respondent’s current ownership, possession, custody, access, or control. A petition for an extreme risk protection order may be filed by (i) an intimate partner or a family or household member of the respondent; or (ii) a law enforcement agency.
  6. A petition for an antiharassment protection order, which must allege the existence of unlawful harassment committed against the petitioner or petitioners by the respondent. If a petitioner is seeking relief based on domestic violence, nonconsensual sexual conduct, nonconsensual sexual penetration, or stalking, the petitioner may, but is not required to, seek a domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking protection order, rather than an antiharassment order.

 

In many cases, a person may file a petition (be the petitioner) on behalf of another person. Often the person sought to be protected is a minor child or vulnerable adult.

Final note- protection orders can have significant consequences – if you need help, contact our office right away at 360.474.7872