Restraining Orders

A non-domestic stalking personal protection order (PPO) can be issued ex parte or after the respondent is notified and a hearing is held.

Temporary ex parte order
When you file for a stalking personal protection order, you could get a temporary ex parte order, which means it is issued without written or oral notice to the respondent or his/her attorney. The judge must make a decision on whether to issue you an ex parte order within one business day of when you file the petition. An ex parte personal protection order is only supposed to be issued if the allegations in your complaint clearly show that:

• immediate and severe injury, loss, or damage will result if you have to wait for the respondent to be notified before you get the order; or
• notifying the respondent would put you in danger.¹

A temporary stalking personal protection order will generally last for at least 182 days, approximately six months, unless the respondent request a hearing and, at that hearing, the judge shortens or dismisses the order. The respondent generally has 14 days from when s/he is served with the order in which s/he can file a motion to modify or dismiss the order and request a hearing. The time to file the motion can be extended beyond 14 days if there is “good cause.”² The hearing will generally be held within 14 days of when the motion was filed, except it will be held within five days if the respondent:

• has a license to carry a concealed weapon and is required to carry a weapon as a condition of his or her employment;
• is a police officer sheriff, a deputy sheriff or a member of the Michigan department of state police;
• is a local corrections officer or a department of corrections employee; or
• is a federal law enforcement officer who carries a firearm during the normal course of his or her employment.³

Final personal protection order
If there is a hearing on a petition for PPO and the judge issues an order after the hearing, the order will be a final order that can last for any length of time ordered by the judge.

You may also be able to extend your order. See Can my non-domestic stalking PPO be extended?

¹ MCL § 600.2950a(12); see also MCR 3.705(A)(1)
² MCL § 600.2950a(13)
³ MCL § 600.2950a(14); see also MCR 3.707(A)(2)